Tuesday after the closing bell, Sunnyvale, California-based Internet information provider Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) on said it has agreed to buy online ad network BlueLithium for about $300 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2007, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval. The companies believe that the combination of BlueLithium's assets and relationships with Yahoo's overall ad network will give advertisers access to powerful data analytics, advanced targeting, and innovative direct-response buying strategies across a broad range of high quality inventory.
San Jose, California-based BlueLithium is a company that specializes in the fast-growing market for technology that tracks consumer behavior as users move from site to site in order to deliver more relevant ads. According to comScore Media Metrix, BlueLithium is the fifth largest ad network in the US and second largest in the UK with 145 million unique visitors each month.
BlueLithium's product capabilities include audience targeting based on consumer interests, remarketing ads to consumers across the Web who have interacted with an ad or web page, custom segmentation, spot buying capabilities to extend reach and frequency against a marketer's target audience.
Susan Decker, president, Yahoo, said, The combination of BlueLithium's network and Yahoo's engaged audience will provide an unprecedented buying opportunity across what we believe will be one of the world's leading online display ad networks.
Upon the completion of acquisition, BlueLithium will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yahoo. Gurbaksh Chahal, founder, chairman and chief executive officer for BlueLithium will remain with BlueLithium for an interim period through the integration.
With this acquisition, Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo believes that the publishers will have greater access to advertising budgets through Yahoo's sales force and through the Right Media Exchange, where BlueLithium will be an active participant. BlueLithium also provides media buying expertise that is complementary to the Yahoo Publisher Network, enabling Yahoo to further extend the reach and frequency of the quality audience advertisers have come to expect.
Yahoo and its rival Google Inc. (GOOG) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) have made significant effort to grow its advertising capabilities.
In July, Yahoo acquired the remaining equity interest in Right Media for about $650 million.
In April, Google signed a definitive deal to buy DoubleClick Inc., a provider of digital marketing technology and services, for $3.1 billion in cash from San Francisco-based private equity firm Hellman & Friedman along with JMI Equity and management.
In July, Microsoft agreed to acquire privately held advertising exchange platform company AdECN Inc. The company did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, which will be completed in the first half of its fiscal year 2008. In May, Microsoft said it would acquire digital marketing company aQuantive Inc. (AQNT) for $66.50 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at about $6 billion.
YHOO closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $23.97, up $1.24 or 5.46%. In the after-hours, the shares further gained 18 cents.
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