LodgeNet Stays Online by Buying StayOnline

LodgeNet Entertainment reached an agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of StayOnline for $15 million in cash.

Atlanta-based StayOnline provides high-speed Internet-access solutions focused on the lodging industry.

LodgeNet said that after the transaction closes -- expected during the first quarter of 2007 -- it will provide Internet-access services to more than 175,000 hotel rooms nationwide, increasing its current base fivefold.

“Travelers want the same level and quality of Internet access they have at work and at home and, as a result, we believe hotels will increasingly want to get that guest-critical service from a financially secure company they know and trust,” LodgeNet CEO Scott C. Petersen said in a prepared statement.