DoubleClick Inc., which places online ads for other businesses, is being acquired for about $1.1 billion by San Francisco-based private equity firm Hellman & Friedman LLC.
DoubleClick, headquartered in New York, announced an acquisition agreement on Sunday which is expected to be completed in the third quarter.
DoubleClick stockholders will receive $8.50 for each share of DoubleClick common stock, representing a 10.6 percent premium over the average closing price of DoubleClick’s stock for the last 30 trading days. But the price is below Friday’s close of $8.57 a share for DoubleClick, whose shares have risen sharply in recent days on takeover speculation.
San Diego-based venture capital firm JMI Equity is also investing in the deal.
“This transaction provides great value to our stockholders and underscores the strength of our industry-leading position and DoubleClick’s business model,” said DoubleClick’s chief executive officer Kevin Ryan, who will step down.
Philip Hammarskjold, managing director of Hellman & Friedman, said he looks forward to partnering with the DoubleClick team “to help realize the company’s significant opportunities for growth in both its online advertising and marketing and data businesses.”
David Rosenblatt will continue to oversee the TechSolutions division as its CEO, and Brian Rainey will continue to lead the DataSolutions division as its CEO.
“This is a great outcome for our customers, shareholders and employees,” said Rosenblatt, who is currently president of DoubleClick.
The deal has been approved by DoubleClick’s board but is subject to approval by DoubleClick shareholders, federal regulators and the closing of debt financing arrangements.
Hellman & Friedman LLC is based in San Francisco and has invested in about 50 companies since its founding in 1984, including media, software, information services, financial services, energy, and professional services businesses.
JMI Equity has focused on investments in the software and business services industries since its founding in 1992.