Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : 24/7 Media, Inc. (TFSM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mark Peterson CPA who wrote (273)	10/8/1999 4:20:00 PM
From: Mark Peterson CPA	Respond to of 669

Hope I'm not boring anybody here. Apologies in advance if I am.... Ad firms DoubleClick, 24/7 in merger talks-report NEW YORK, Oct 8 (Reuters) - New York Internet advertising sales networks DoubleClick Inc. <DCLK.O> and 24/7 Media Inc. <TFSM.O> were in talks on a possible merger that could be valued around $1.5 billion, a New York Internet industry newsletter said on Thursday, citing unnamed industry sources. If borne out, a deal would mark the rapid consolidation of the independent online ad sales business following a wave of recent acquisitions. Shares of 24/7 gained 7 to 47-1/2 after trading as high as 49-1/2 on Friday while DoubleClick lost 1-1/8 to 130-3/4, both on the Nasdaq stock market. A 24/7 spokeswoman declined to comment. "We don't offer a comment one way or the other on rumors and speculation," said Nancy Olds, the company's marketing director. A DoubleClick spokeswoman also declined to comment on the report. The Silicon Alley Reporter, an observer of the network of downtown New York Web and ad firms from which it takes its name, said the talks are taking place between DoubleClick CEO Kevin O'Connor and 24/7 Media executives holed up in a Los Angeles hotel. The companies are based in New York, a few blocks from one another. DoubleClick, with a market capitalization above $5 billion, would acquire 24/7, a company valued at around $1 billion after today's share price appreciation, the online newsletter said. "The proposed deal calls for 24/7 to be acquired for a multiple of revenues close to DoubleClick's multiple... a move that would value 24/7 Media at around $1.5 billion, according to sources, nearly doubling the company's share price," it said. 24/7 stock had traded in the low-40s on Thursday, ahead of the publication of the report. A combination of the two companies would follow a string of acquisitions by CMGI Inc. <CMGI.O> including last week's purchase of Flycast Communications Corp. <FCST.O>, a third network that supplies Web sites with links to advertisers. Only weeks ago, CMGI had been rumored to be interested in adding 24/7 to its growing network of ad properties, leading 24/7 shares higher in recent weeks, an analyst said. Lazard Freres analyst Dana Sherman said he saw merit in the latest 24/7 takeover speculation. "I would put (the chance of) a deal at better than 50/50," he said. "There's only upside to a takeout," he said of the possible DoubleClick move. "The question is price," he said. "If you believe in the explosion of this market ... today's price may pale in the the face of the long-term value of this market" whose rapid growth is being fueled by the proliferation of Web sites seeking to gain access to major advertiser budgets through such networks. According to market researcher Media Metrix, 24/7 and Flycast are roughly neck-and-neck in terms of the online audience reach, representing Web sites with around 36 million computer users each, or more than 50 percent of Web viewers. They are tied for No. 3 in terms of reach, behind the online advertising networks of Yahoo! Inc. <YHOO.O> and Microsoft Corp.'s <MSFT.O> MSN that serve their respective networks of media sites. DoubleClick serves Web sites that have around 32 million monthly users, but has a greater number of brand name sites than 24/7, spokeswoman Amy Shapiro said. 24/7, largely focused on its advertising media business, has more small and medium-sized sites. DoubleClick combines ad media, with technology for serving ads and measuring audience response, as well as maintaining customer data bases through its proposed acquisition of Abacus, a supplier of data to the direct marketing industry. Through its own acquisitions, CMGI has rapidly assembled a stable of online advertising and marketing properties for selling advertising as well as personalized marketing promotions to individual Web users. Flycast stock was off 1-1/16 at 50-1/8 in light trading. CMGI, a diversified Internet venture investor, was off 3-3/8 at 110-1/4. Both trade on Nasdaq. REUTERS Rtr 15:09 10-08-99