DIVINE TO OUTLINE POST-IPO PLANS ALONG WITH RESULTS 
 
By Barbara Rose - Tribune Staff Writer 
August 17, 2000 

Divine Interventures Inc., in its first communication with
investors since going public in July, is scheduled to
release second-quarter financial results after the market
closes Thursday.

Wall Street--which turned bearish on risky Internet
enterprises in April--clearly is not expecting much good
news short-term: Divine's stock closed at $6.97
Wednesday, down nearly 23 percent from its
$9-per-share offering price July 12.

Yet interest in Divine's report and in a related telephone
conference scheduled with analysts Thursday is keen
because Divine's executives were barred until recently
by a routine "quiet period" from talking publicly about
the company.

Senior executives are expected to answer questions
Thursday about their plans for future
investments--Divine was in talks with about 50
companies before it went public--as well as about how
the year-old Internet incubator plans to increase the
value of its wide-ranging portfolio of 52 start-ups, many
of them acquired at the top of the market this year.

In the short term, some of Divine's companies will be
sold and others merged to form larger enterprises that
could become profitable faster. Still others won't get
more money from Divine and will fold if they cannot find
other financing.

Divine will need to send a strong positive message to
prevent its stock from slipping even closer to $6, which
is the price paid last year by early investors who bought
into founder and chief executive Andrew "Flip"
Filipowski's vision for creating a powerful Internet
combination.

The $6 price also is a benchmark because it is near
Divine's $5.97 per-share book value. If the stock dips
below book value, it means investors believe that
Divine's holdings are worth, in aggregate, less than what
Divine paid for them.

Among the mergers Divine is considering: combining
Web-development start-up Xqsite with sister companies
Web Design Group and Westbound Consulting to
create an entity tentatively called Charisma, which would
provide Web design, strategy and implementation
services. In addition, Charisma could include public
relations firm Buzz Divine, real estate subsidiary Dotspot
and other Internet service specialists.