Engage bolsters Web power with AdKnowledge buy
The Internet marketing company controlled by CMGI agrees to buy AdKnowledge for $193 million in stock to add customers and Web advertising services.
CMGI, the U.S. Internet venture fund company, initially will acquire an 85 percent stake in AdKnowledge for $170 million in CMGI shares. Engage will acquire the remaining 15 percent stake in AdKnowledge for $23 million in Engage shares. In the third step, Engage will issue $170 million in Engage shares to CMGI for the 85-percent stake in AdKnowledge that CMGI bought in the first step.
The process will increase CMGI's stake in Engage to just over 80 percent, Engage said. The company develops profiles of the browsing and buying habits of Web users. AdKnowledge provides consulting and marketing software that helps advertisers plan and execute their ad campaigns. Its customers include eBay and SportsLine USA.
"AdKnowledge and Engage are uniquely complementary and share the same objective," AdKnowledge chief executive Scott Kauffman said.
In August, Palo Alto, California-based AdKnowledge filed to raise as much as $57.5 million in an initial stock sale.
The announcement was made after close of markets yesterday.
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