ValueClick to buy Fastclick to expand online ad services
Adding to its breadth of online advertising services, ValueClick Inc. has agreed to acquire Santa Barbara, CA-based Fastclick Inc. in a stock-for-stock deal valued at about $214 million, the companies said.
The deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter, includes the Fastclick Ad Network, which reached more than 72% of unique U.S. Internet users in March 2005 through more than 9,000 third-party web sites, ValueClick said.
James Zarley, chairman and CEO of ValueClick, said he expects Fastclick to quickly complement affiliate network services offered through Commission Junction, a unit of ValueClick. “We expect a straight-forward integration of Fastclick – headquartered across the street from our Commission Junction office in Santa Barbara – to quickly realize operating synergies,” he said. ValueClick, based in Westlake Village, CA, also operates marketing services units ValueClick Media and Mediaplex.
“Partnering with ValueClick will enable us to offer our advertiser and publisher clients a broader suite of services, more quickly and at an even greater scale,” said Fastclick CEO Kurt Johnson.
Earlier this month, ValueClick said it would pay about $141 million to acquire Web Marketing Holdings Inc., a lead-generation online marketing firm that operates as Web Clients, and $14.7 million for online ink products retailer E-Babylon.
In addition, ValueClick launched earlier this year the U.S. version of European comparison shopping site PriceRunner.com, which ValueClick acquired last year for about $29 million in cash and stock.
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