Sara Holoubek
March 17, 2008
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The news on this second day of Search Engine Strategies New York is that 360i has picked up award-winning digital design, development and marketing firm i33. The acquisition brings expertise in designing and developing social media applications, widgets, websites and other rich media experiences, as well as clients Marvel Entertainment, PBS, New Era Cap, Target and Borders.
Founded in 1998 by Dave Williams and Bryan Kujawksi, 360i has spent the past decade organically evolving into an integrated digital marketing agency. In speaking with Sarah Hofstetter, VP, emerging media & client strategy for the firm, I learned more about this approach to adding more services. “Creative is not just about pretty pictures. It is about understanding consumer insights and the best way to connect,” she said.
Prior to the acquisition, she oversaw an in-house team built to meet clients' growing digital needs, such as designing a Facebook page for H&R Block, developing widgets for a product launch, or experimenting with a new API. Having this competency in the firm's DNA was a plus when partnering, and eventually acquiring, i33. “When we brainstorm with them, we are completely on the same wavelength,” said Hofstetter.
360i is not the first to grow and change through acquisition. Many will recall that the aQuantive we know today is the result of multiple acquisitions made by Avenue A, now one of its business units. More recently, iCrossing acquired multiple competencies by picking up NewGate, Spannerworks, Sharp Analytics and Proxicom over the past 18 months.
So what does this activity mean for the search engine marketing set? Most importantly, the industry has matured. Not only is consolidation happening among search engine marketers that prefer to remain independent, but many others have been acquired by large agency conglomerates. Since the acquisition of Outrider's parent company by WPP in 2001, iProspect landed within the Isobar family, Performics paired with Doubleclick, neo@Ogilvy (a WPP firm) took on Global Strategies International, Reprise Media was picked up by IPG, and so on.
The more delicate sign, however, is that search has become a critical tool in the digital toolbox, and perhaps not viable as a standalone business for most search engine marketers. I can count one hand, make that a few fingers, the number of independent search engine marketers that only offer SEO and PPC, and are not looking to exit or evolve their services within the next few years. The ability to remain independent remains a luxury for all but the biggest players with solid operations, and smaller shops that have carved out a niche market.
The decisions until then will be interesting to watch. Acquisitions of creative, development, social media, mobile and video services are likely to occur. Some will happen organically; others will be artificially glued like limbs on a body. Only time will tell which will succeed. If there is one guarantee, it is that the landscape in 2009 will be very different than the landscape today.
Showing posts with label mergers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mergers. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
AOL / BEBO deal analysis... very interesting data
The most interesting tidbits about the AOL-Bebo deal are as follows:
Bebo’s revenues for FY2006 were $7 million with $3 million in EBITDA. In FY2007, the financial results were approximately $20 million in revenues and $5 million in EBITDA. Using 2007 results, that means Time Warner’s AOL paid a handsome 42.5 times revenues and an incredible 160 times EBITDA.
Projecting outward, our best guess by Bebo execs would have the Company around $50 million in revenue and $10 million in EBITDA in FY 2008; $117 million in revenue and $48 million in revenue in FY 2009 and $193 million in revenue and $92 million in EBITDA in FY 2010.
As a brief overview, Bebo was launched in July 2005 and has steadily risen to become one of the world’s most popular social networking sites. Users can create profiles on the site for free, stay connected with friends, watch videos, and listen to music. In early 2008 Bebo had over 34 million registered users and 7 billion monthly page views.
Bebo’s founders have extensive experience in online social networking, having been involved in the founding and building of such companies as Birthday Alarm, Ringo, and Friendster.
Bebo is officially the largest social networking site in the UK, Ireland, and New Zealand, and is the third largest social networking site in the US behind only MySpace and Facebook.
Recent Comscore data says Bebo has 22 million unique visitors and 11 billion page views; AOL said Bebo users spend an average of 40 minutes a day on the site in a press briefing. The company claims 40 million users.
The sale will represent more than a 9x cash return for Balderton Capital, which provided Bebo with $15 million in Series A funding less than two years ago. That round gave Balderton a 15.7% ownership position (approx. $95m post-money valuation), which would work out to around a $133 million paycheck from AOL. But Balderton actually gets approximately $140 million, due to some additional provisions and entitlements contained in the investment agreement.
Bebo’s husband-wife founding team of Michael and Xochi Birch won’t be sticking around AOL for very long (if at all).
Bebo plans to soon expand into several non-English-speaking European markets
Bebo had been in the market for new funding to support acquisitions, particularly in the contextual and behavioral search markets. But that ended once acquisition offers began coming in. No comment on earlier reports that Yahoo was an interested suitor (which is now 0-for-2 on such efforts).
PRESS RELEASE BELOW
AOL To Acquire Global Social Media Network Bebo
* Printer friendly version
Posted: March 13, 2008
Filed Under: International, Products, Corporate
NEW YORK, NY, March 13, 2008 – AOL announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Bebo (http://www.bebo.com), a leading global social media network. Together with its AIM and ICQ personal communications network, the acquisition will give AOL a premier position in the fast growing world of social media with a network of approximately 80 million unique users.
With a total membership of more than 40 million worldwide, Bebo is a global social media network which combines community, self-expression and entertainment to enable its users to consume, create, discover and share content. Bebo is one of the leading social networks in the UK, and is ranked number one in Ireland and New Zealand, and number three in the U.S. Its users are heavily engaged and view an average of 78 pages per usage day. Bebo has approximately 100 employees operating in offices in the UK, San Francisco and Austin, TX.
The deal comes just one week after AOL’s launch of Open AIM 2.0, an initiative that allows the developer community greater freedom to access the AIM network and integrate AIM into its sites and applications, and the announcement by Apple of a downloadable AIM application for the iPhone.
Under the terms of the agreement, AOL will acquire Bebo for $850 million in cash.
“Bebo is the perfect complement to AOL’s personal communications network and puts us in a leading position in social media,” said Randy Falco, Chairman and CEO, AOL. “What drew us to Bebo was its substantial and fast-growing worldwide user-base, its vision of a truly social web, and the monetization opportunities that leverage Platform-A across our combined global audience. This positions us to offer advertisers even greater reach and marketers significant insights into the desires and needs of consumers.”
“AOL understands the shifting dynamics of the Web and has clearly demonstrated its commitment to leveraging the ever-increasing power of social networks,” said Bebo President, Joanna Shields. “With one and the same vision in this area, it was a natural progression for Bebo to join AOL, and we look forward to working together to continue to expand the online social experience globally.”
“Bebo’s dynamic management team recognizes that the Internet is less about destination and more about connecting people, culture and lifestyles,” said Ron Grant, President and COO, AOL. “This acquisition supports our key objectives – accelerating the growth, engagement and monetization of one of the world’s most engaged online communities.”
Upon closing the transaction, current President Joanna Shields will continue to run Bebo and will report to Ron Grant.
Analyst eMarketer predicts that by 2011, $4.1 billion will be spent worldwide for social network advertising – a dramatic increase from the $480 million spent in 2006. In 2008 alone, global ad spend in the social networking arena is expected to increase 75% year over year, amounting to $2.1 billion (eMarketer, Social Network Marketing: Ad Spending and Usage, December 2007).
In recent months, AOL has moved aggressively to bolster its position in areas critical to its emergence as a leading advertising-supported Web media and marketing company. Building on its number one position in third party display with Advertising.com, AOL has spent nearly $1 billion on online advertising acquisitions, including market leaders like ADTECH, buy.at, Lightningcast, Quigo, TACODA and Third Screen Media to create Platform-A. Platform-A is the top display ad serving network focused on helping marketers build brands that perform online.* In Web content, AOL’s revitalized network of sites has experienced five months of consecutive page view growth and key categories like Music, Television, Moviefone, TMZ, Money & Finance, News, Living and Body are all in the top four in their respective categories.
As part of its international growth plans, AOL has launched 17 international web sites over the last year and has plans to expand to 30 countries outside the U.S. by the end of 2008. In addition, AOL teamed up with HP last September to include localized versions of the AOL.com portal and other AOL services as the default setting on HP computers shipped in the United States and around the world. Bebo, which has announced plans to launch in five countries this year, will be featured prominently in AOL’s international expansion efforts after the deal is closed.
Since its inception, Bebo has established a radical new vision for online media and engagement marketing, combining community, self-expression and entertainment, enabling its members to consume, create, discover, curate and share digital content in entirely new ways. Bebo global users have high engagement levels spending an average of 33 minutes a day on the site. Its groundbreaking Open Media platform ushered in a new way for Bebo users to experience content online, while giving global media companies like MTV, CBS, BBC and more than 400 others, a new way to promote, distribute and monetize their programming. "Engagement Marketing," is Bebo’s initiative for brands to build long-term relationships with their target audience. Today, brands from Apple to Nike use Bebo as a platform to establish ongoing conversations with consumers.
Bebo pioneered the blending of Web-native original content with interactivity in the social networking environment by co-producing "KateModern," the most successful TV show on the Web, now in its second season, followed by the soon to be premiered "Sophia's Diary," and the upcoming "Gap Year." In December 2007, Bebo opened its platform to external application developers becoming the first social network to embrace both Facebook and OpenSocial APIs. To date, more than 1500 applications have joined the network.
AOL was advised by Banc of America Securities LLC and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. Bebo was advised by Allen & Co.
AOL and Bebo senior management will host a conference call beginning at 9:00 am ET to discuss the day's news.
The dialing instructions for the call are:
In the United States: 888-730-9143
Outside the U.S.: 210-839-8553
Passcode: AOL Update
Please dial in at least ten to fifteen minutes before the call's scheduled start to ensure you are connected in time for the beginning of the call.
Note to Editors: Photos, logos and video from today’s announcement are available on the AOL Corporate Site at http://corp.aol.com.
About AOL
AOL® is a global Web services company that operates some of the most popular Web destinations, offers a comprehensive suite of free software and services runs one of the largest Internet access businesses in the U.S., and provides a full set of advertising solutions. A majority-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX), AOL LLC and its subsidiaries have operations in the U.S., Europe, Canada and Asia. Learn more at AOL.com.
About Bebo
Bebo, founded by Michael and Xochi Birch, is the world's leading global social media network. Building on the notion of traditional social networking websites, Bebo combines community, self-expression and entertainment to enable its users to consume, create, discover and share professional and user-generated content through the Bebo website. Bebo has 11.4m unique users in the UK and a total membership of more than 40 million worldwide. Bebo also ranks as the UK's most engaging social network with users spending an average of 33 minutes on the site per usage day.**
*According to comScore Media Metrix February 2008 data, Platform-A continues to be the number one advertising network with 167 million unique visitors and a domestic reach of 90%.
Bebo’s revenues for FY2006 were $7 million with $3 million in EBITDA. In FY2007, the financial results were approximately $20 million in revenues and $5 million in EBITDA. Using 2007 results, that means Time Warner’s AOL paid a handsome 42.5 times revenues and an incredible 160 times EBITDA.
Projecting outward, our best guess by Bebo execs would have the Company around $50 million in revenue and $10 million in EBITDA in FY 2008; $117 million in revenue and $48 million in revenue in FY 2009 and $193 million in revenue and $92 million in EBITDA in FY 2010.
As a brief overview, Bebo was launched in July 2005 and has steadily risen to become one of the world’s most popular social networking sites. Users can create profiles on the site for free, stay connected with friends, watch videos, and listen to music. In early 2008 Bebo had over 34 million registered users and 7 billion monthly page views.
Bebo’s founders have extensive experience in online social networking, having been involved in the founding and building of such companies as Birthday Alarm, Ringo, and Friendster.
Bebo is officially the largest social networking site in the UK, Ireland, and New Zealand, and is the third largest social networking site in the US behind only MySpace and Facebook.
Recent Comscore data says Bebo has 22 million unique visitors and 11 billion page views; AOL said Bebo users spend an average of 40 minutes a day on the site in a press briefing. The company claims 40 million users.
The sale will represent more than a 9x cash return for Balderton Capital, which provided Bebo with $15 million in Series A funding less than two years ago. That round gave Balderton a 15.7% ownership position (approx. $95m post-money valuation), which would work out to around a $133 million paycheck from AOL. But Balderton actually gets approximately $140 million, due to some additional provisions and entitlements contained in the investment agreement.
Bebo’s husband-wife founding team of Michael and Xochi Birch won’t be sticking around AOL for very long (if at all).
Bebo plans to soon expand into several non-English-speaking European markets
Bebo had been in the market for new funding to support acquisitions, particularly in the contextual and behavioral search markets. But that ended once acquisition offers began coming in. No comment on earlier reports that Yahoo was an interested suitor (which is now 0-for-2 on such efforts).
PRESS RELEASE BELOW
AOL To Acquire Global Social Media Network Bebo
* Printer friendly version
Posted: March 13, 2008
Filed Under: International, Products, Corporate
NEW YORK, NY, March 13, 2008 – AOL announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Bebo (http://www.bebo.com),
With a total membership of more than 40 million worldwide, Bebo is a global social media network which combines community, self-expression and entertainment to enable its users to consume, create, discover and share content. Bebo is one of the leading social networks in the UK, and is ranked number one in Ireland and New Zealand, and number three in the U.S. Its users are heavily engaged and view an average of 78 pages per usage day. Bebo has approximately 100 employees operating in offices in the UK, San Francisco and Austin, TX.
The deal comes just one week after AOL’s launch of Open AIM 2.0, an initiative that allows the developer community greater freedom to access the AIM network and integrate AIM into its sites and applications, and the announcement by Apple of a downloadable AIM application for the iPhone.
Under the terms of the agreement, AOL will acquire Bebo for $850 million in cash.
“Bebo is the perfect complement to AOL’s personal communications network and puts us in a leading position in social media,” said Randy Falco, Chairman and CEO, AOL. “What drew us to Bebo was its substantial and fast-growing worldwide user-base, its vision of a truly social web, and the monetization opportunities that leverage Platform-A across our combined global audience. This positions us to offer advertisers even greater reach and marketers significant insights into the desires and needs of consumers.”
“AOL understands the shifting dynamics of the Web and has clearly demonstrated its commitment to leveraging the ever-increasing power of social networks,” said Bebo President, Joanna Shields. “With one and the same vision in this area, it was a natural progression for Bebo to join AOL, and we look forward to working together to continue to expand the online social experience globally.”
“Bebo’s dynamic management team recognizes that the Internet is less about destination and more about connecting people, culture and lifestyles,” said Ron Grant, President and COO, AOL. “This acquisition supports our key objectives – accelerating the growth, engagement and monetization of one of the world’s most engaged online communities.”
Upon closing the transaction, current President Joanna Shields will continue to run Bebo and will report to Ron Grant.
Analyst eMarketer predicts that by 2011, $4.1 billion will be spent worldwide for social network advertising – a dramatic increase from the $480 million spent in 2006. In 2008 alone, global ad spend in the social networking arena is expected to increase 75% year over year, amounting to $2.1 billion (eMarketer, Social Network Marketing: Ad Spending and Usage, December 2007).
In recent months, AOL has moved aggressively to bolster its position in areas critical to its emergence as a leading advertising-supported Web media and marketing company. Building on its number one position in third party display with Advertising.com, AOL has spent nearly $1 billion on online advertising acquisitions, including market leaders like ADTECH, buy.at, Lightningcast, Quigo, TACODA and Third Screen Media to create Platform-A. Platform-A is the top display ad serving network focused on helping marketers build brands that perform online.* In Web content, AOL’s revitalized network of sites has experienced five months of consecutive page view growth and key categories like Music, Television, Moviefone, TMZ, Money & Finance, News, Living and Body are all in the top four in their respective categories.
As part of its international growth plans, AOL has launched 17 international web sites over the last year and has plans to expand to 30 countries outside the U.S. by the end of 2008. In addition, AOL teamed up with HP last September to include localized versions of the AOL.com portal and other AOL services as the default setting on HP computers shipped in the United States and around the world. Bebo, which has announced plans to launch in five countries this year, will be featured prominently in AOL’s international expansion efforts after the deal is closed.
Since its inception, Bebo has established a radical new vision for online media and engagement marketing, combining community, self-expression and entertainment, enabling its members to consume, create, discover, curate and share digital content in entirely new ways. Bebo global users have high engagement levels spending an average of 33 minutes a day on the site. Its groundbreaking Open Media platform ushered in a new way for Bebo users to experience content online, while giving global media companies like MTV, CBS, BBC and more than 400 others, a new way to promote, distribute and monetize their programming. "Engagement Marketing," is Bebo’s initiative for brands to build long-term relationships with their target audience. Today, brands from Apple to Nike use Bebo as a platform to establish ongoing conversations with consumers.
Bebo pioneered the blending of Web-native original content with interactivity in the social networking environment by co-producing "KateModern," the most successful TV show on the Web, now in its second season, followed by the soon to be premiered "Sophia's Diary," and the upcoming "Gap Year." In December 2007, Bebo opened its platform to external application developers becoming the first social network to embrace both Facebook and OpenSocial APIs. To date, more than 1500 applications have joined the network.
AOL was advised by Banc of America Securities LLC and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. Bebo was advised by Allen & Co.
AOL and Bebo senior management will host a conference call beginning at 9:00 am ET to discuss the day's news.
The dialing instructions for the call are:
In the United States: 888-730-9143
Outside the U.S.: 210-839-8553
Passcode: AOL Update
Please dial in at least ten to fifteen minutes before the call's scheduled start to ensure you are connected in time for the beginning of the call.
Note to Editors: Photos, logos and video from today’s announcement are available on the AOL Corporate Site at http://corp.aol.com.
About AOL
AOL® is a global Web services company that operates some of the most popular Web destinations, offers a comprehensive suite of free software and services runs one of the largest Internet access businesses in the U.S., and provides a full set of advertising solutions. A majority-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX), AOL LLC and its subsidiaries have operations in the U.S., Europe, Canada and Asia. Learn more at AOL.com.
About Bebo
Bebo, founded by Michael and Xochi Birch, is the world's leading global social media network. Building on the notion of traditional social networking websites, Bebo combines community, self-expression and entertainment to enable its users to consume, create, discover and share professional and user-generated content through the Bebo website. Bebo has 11.4m unique users in the UK and a total membership of more than 40 million worldwide. Bebo also ranks as the UK's most engaging social network with users spending an average of 33 minutes on the site per usage day.**
*According to comScore Media Metrix February 2008 data, Platform-A continues to be the number one advertising network with 167 million unique visitors and a domestic reach of 90%.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Hearst Ups Digital Ante: Buys Kaboodle
| by Erik Sass, Thursday, Aug 9, 2007 8:30 AM ET |
| HEARST CORP. WENT DIGITAL SHOPPING--AND it came home with Kaboodle Inc. Billed as a "social shopping community," it allows members to browse and share product recommendations. The new acquisition will be jointly managed by Hearst Interactive Media and the Hearst Magazines digital media unit. Kenneth Bronfin, president of Interactive Media for Hearst, predicts that "Kaboodle will bring to social shopping what MySpace has brought to social media." He added that the acquisition "will enable Kaboodle to further expand its content and service offerings, while also significantly increasing its advertiser base." Kaboodle's novel take on social networking brings together consumers on the basis of their product tastes. It combines the social network function with an e-commerce platform. The site, which launched in 2006, attracts over 2 million unique visitors a month. Cathleen Black, president of Hearst Magazines, touted the synergies that will result from the purchase: "We think Kaboodle has terrific potential for many of our brands, especially in the fashion, beauty and consumer technology categories. Our readers will be able to find the products featured in our magazines, shop electronically with their friends and get their feedback." The Hearst-Kaboodle deal is just the latest in a series of acquisitions of online-only companies by magazine publishers that want to increase their online audience and build online distribution platforms for their content. In July, Hearst bought Ugo.com, described as "a first-stop destination for the latest news and content on games, movies, television, film, DVDs, music, sports, women and comic books." It mostly targets a young male audience, including more than 11 million unique visitors in the U.S. In January, the company acquired eCrush.com, along with related sites eSpin.com and HighSchoolStyleBoard. The first two sites currently have about 3.4 million registered, active users. Other magazine companies have followed suit. Time Inc.'s Sports Illustrated bought FanNation.com, a social networking and news site for sports enthusiasts, in February. The site will serve as a model for social networks built around Time Inc.'s other magazine brands. And in April, Hachette Filipacchi purchased JumpStart, an online automobile ad network, which is being integrated with the publisher's CarandDriver.com, RoadandTrack.com and CycleWorld.com properties. JumpStart's network of sites, which include NADAguides.com, Vehix, and J.D. Power & Associates Autos, reach 5 to 7 million potential car buyers a month. |
Apollo Group Buys Online Ad Network Aptimus
| | |
| by Gavin O'Malley, Thursday, Aug 9, 2007 6:00 AM ET | |
| THERE GOES ANOTHER ONE. UNIVERSITY of Phoenix operator Apollo Group on Wednesday announced plans to acquire online ad network Aptimus in an all-cash deal for $6.25 a share, or nearly $48 million. Apollo has consistently ranked as one of the Web's heaviest advertisers, ranking among the top 10 marketers in online spending. The addition of Aptimus will allow Apollo to spread its messages still further. For Apollo, the underlying goal is "achieving further process and cost efficiencies in new-student enrollments," explained company president Brian Mueller. Ever since Google agreed to buy DoubleClick for $3.1 billion in April, rivals of various shapes and sizes have taken the Web's remaining major ad networks off the table. Fearing Google's ever-expanding influence, Microsoft quickly agreed to buy aQuantive for $6.1 billion, and then WPP snatched up 24/7 Real Media for about $649 million. In late June, Aegis Group purchased the Bluestreak ad network for $12.5 million, and expressed its intent to invest heavily in Bluestreak's core infrastructure. In late April, Microsoft said it would buy AdECN, Inc.--an ad exchange akin to Right Media, the company Yahoo agreed to buy outright for more than $680 million in April. The San Francisco-based Aptimus will continue to provide its services to Web publishers and advertisers in other industries. Its current advertisers include Procter & Gamble, Nokia, Dell, Vonage, SC Johnson and Carnival Cruises. In July, Forbes.com enlisted Aptimus' Point-of-Action network for lead-generating, transactional advertising. In addition, Apollo plans to continue working with AOL, its subsidiary Advertising.com, as well as with other digital media affiliates and publishers. More than 30 years old, Apollo also operates the Institute for Professional Development, the College for Financial Planning, Western International University and Insight Schools.
|
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Microsoft Acquires a Broker
By ROBERT A. GUTH
July 27, 2007
July 27, 2007
Microsoft Corp. is acquiring a small broker of ad space on Web sites, part of a broader Internet industry exploration of how electronic exchanges can make the market for online advertising more efficient.
The Redmond, Wash., software maker said it has purchased AdECN Inc. of Santa Barbara, Calif., a 30-person start-up that runs a network linking buyers and sellers of Internet ad space. Terms of the agreement weren't disclosed.
The acquisition follows the purchases by Microsoft's lead online competitors of companies building similar exchanges. Google Inc. this year announced a $3.1 billion deal to buy DoubleClick Inc., which is building an ad exchange. Yahoo Inc. in April paid $680 million for the remaining 80% of Right Media Inc., following a 20% stake it bought in October.
In each case, the Internet companies want to be the first to build a large-scale, dynamic market for the ad industry. Each hopes its exchange can inject efficiencies in trading ad space in much the same way the Nasdaq electronic market did for stocks.
Microsoft executives said they will include their ad inventory from the company's own nascent ad networks and a network it acquired through its $6 billion deal in May to buy online-ad specialist aQuantive Inc.
Microsoft will run AdECN as a stand-alone company in an effort to create a neutral venue for trading.
Write to Robert A. Guth at rob.guth@wsj.com
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
eBay’s StumbleUpon Acquisition: Confirmed at $75
Nick Gonzalez
18 comments »
As we expected earlier today, eBay has confirmed an all cash $75 million acquisition of social discovery service StumbleUpon. eBay says StumbleUpon fits will with their “goal of pioneering new communities based on commerce and sustained by trust” and helps them learn more about newly emerging community based businesses.
Although you can imagine “StumbleUpon Shopping” coming soon, eBay is leaving the company alone and taking a wait-and-see approach. The corporation will remain completely intact, except for the addition of eBay’s Michael Buhr, who will serve as general manager for the product.
Throughout 2007, StumbleUpon has seen tremendous growth. They currently have over 2.3 million registered users, serve 5 million daily recommendations, and are experiencing a 150% year over year growth rate. Here’s a quick look at their latest stats from comScore:
18 comments »
As we expected earlier today, eBay has confirmed an all cash $75 million acquisition of social discovery service StumbleUpon. eBay says StumbleUpon fits will with their “goal of pioneering new communities based on commerce and sustained by trust” and helps them learn more about newly emerging community based businesses.
Although you can imagine “StumbleUpon Shopping” coming soon, eBay is leaving the company alone and taking a wait-and-see approach. The corporation will remain completely intact, except for the addition of eBay’s Michael Buhr, who will serve as general manager for the product.
Throughout 2007, StumbleUpon has seen tremendous growth. They currently have over 2.3 million registered users, serve 5 million daily recommendations, and are experiencing a 150% year over year growth rate. Here’s a quick look at their latest stats from comScore:
Thursday, May 17, 2007
WPP to buy 24/7 Real Media for $649 million
U.K. advertising giant wins company said to be stalked by Microsoft
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
Last Update: 8:48 AM ET May 17, 2007
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- British advertising giant WPP Group said Thursday it's buying 24/7 Real Media for $649 million, beating Microsoft to acquiring the Internet advertising firm.
WPP (WPPGY :
Last: 75.03+0.64+0.85%9:08am 05/17/2007Delayed quote data
WPPGY75.03, +0.64, +0.9%) (UK:WPP: news, chart, profile) said it's paying $11.75 a share for 24/7 Real Media (TFSM :
24/7 real media inc com new
News , chart , profile , more
Last: 11.26+0.25+2.27%9:08am 05/17/2007Delayed quote data
TFSM11.26, +0.25, +2.3%) , a 4% premium to the New York-based company's closing price on Wednesday.
24/7 shares have gained nearly 45% over the last two months on buyout hopes, with Microsoft
The deal price equates to $637 million in cash, with a net $12 million more for unvested stock and options minus 24/7's cash at hand.
Shares of 24/7 rose 3.5% to $11.65 in pre-open trading. WPP's London-listed shares rose 1.5%.
WPP said online advertising will exceed $33 billion in 2007, or more than 8% of global advertising spend. 24/7's search business provides clients with advice on search engine optimization and management for Google
"The TFSM team has long experience in the industry and has developed one of the most sophisticated and robust Internet technology platforms, that has enabled the business to deliver strong revenue growth, particularly in 2005 and 2006," WPP said in a statement.
WPP said the deal will hurt earnings in 2007 and 2008 by about 1%. It identified $5 million in cost savings.
Longer term, WPP said the acquisition will help comparable revenue and earnings growth. WPP held to its margin target goal of 15.5% in 2008 and 16% in 2009.
Top 24/7 management, including Chairman and CEO David Moore and CFO Jonathan Hsu, will continue in their current roles.
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
Last Update: 8:48 AM ET May 17, 2007
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- British advertising giant WPP Group said Thursday it's buying 24/7 Real Media for $649 million, beating Microsoft to acquiring the Internet advertising firm.
WPP (WPPGY :
Last: 75.03+0.64+0.85%9:08am 05/17/2007Delayed quote data
WPPGY75.03, +0.64, +0.9%) (UK:WPP: news, chart, profile) said it's paying $11.75 a share for 24/7 Real Media (TFSM :
24/7 real media inc com new
News , chart , profile , more
Last: 11.26+0.25+2.27%9:08am 05/17/2007Delayed quote data
TFSM11.26, +0.25, +2.3%) , a 4% premium to the New York-based company's closing price on Wednesday.
24/7 shares have gained nearly 45% over the last two months on buyout hopes, with Microsoft
The deal price equates to $637 million in cash, with a net $12 million more for unvested stock and options minus 24/7's cash at hand.
Shares of 24/7 rose 3.5% to $11.65 in pre-open trading. WPP's London-listed shares rose 1.5%.
WPP said online advertising will exceed $33 billion in 2007, or more than 8% of global advertising spend. 24/7's search business provides clients with advice on search engine optimization and management for Google
"The TFSM team has long experience in the industry and has developed one of the most sophisticated and robust Internet technology platforms, that has enabled the business to deliver strong revenue growth, particularly in 2005 and 2006," WPP said in a statement.
WPP said the deal will hurt earnings in 2007 and 2008 by about 1%. It identified $5 million in cost savings.
Longer term, WPP said the acquisition will help comparable revenue and earnings growth. WPP held to its margin target goal of 15.5% in 2008 and 16% in 2009.
Top 24/7 management, including Chairman and CEO David Moore and CFO Jonathan Hsu, will continue in their current roles.
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