|
0
Nerd-Its
|
|
current event
by Microsoft is purchasing aQuantive, a burgeoning digital marketing and services company of which most consumers have not heard, for a record $6 billion. The price represents $66.50 per share, an 85% premium over aQuantive's Thursday closing price of $35.87.
The purchase is yet another step in the predicted shift to online marketing. AOL bought online ad network Advertising.com three years ago for $435 million, ad giant WPP Group has agreed to $649 million for digital marketer 24/7 Real Media, Google will acquire digital advertising company DoubleClick for $3.1 billion, and Yahoo will snatch up Right Media for $680 million.
Add a Comment (1)
Email This
Message Author
RSS
Microsoft's desperate move by tomtolman :: NR6 :: on 20 May 2007
This appears to be a desperate move by Microsoft. Anyway you look at it Google is beating them at the online advertising game. This is Microsoft's biggest acquisition ever. This shows that they are serious about competing in the online advertising space. Many thought that Google paid too much for DoubleClick a couple weeks ago. Microsoft, in my opinion, is getting less of a company for about twice as much. Less than a month ago, Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney downgraded aQuantive when it was trading at about $30/share. Microsoft's valuation puts it at over $66/share. Techdirt notes, "By almost any metric, the deal was very rich, which leads to some serious questions about whether Microsoft can get a good return on its investment." TechCrunch thinks there must have been a bidding war.
Bottom line, the web is covered in ads by Google. Many other companies have built their businesses with the plan to monetize it by sharing ad revenue with Google. Microsoft and Yahoo are far behind.