Carlton and Granada link for Net

CARLTON COMMUNICATIONS and Granada Media Group have teamed up to form an Internet search-engine project, despite the pair being at loggerheads over Carlton's plans to merge with United News & Media.

Carlton and Granada have joined forces with Nasdaq-listed Ask Jeeves to develop a UK version of the American company's Internet question-and- answer service. The deal is valued at $125m, with Carlton and Granada contributing $31m each in cash and advertising for a combined 50 per cent share of the project.

Ask Jeeves is one of the top 40 Internet sites in the United States and enables users to search the Web using a direct question-and-answer style, rather than employing a key-word format. Ask Jeeves, which has a market capitalisation of more than $3.5bn, has about five million regular users.