Monday, April 25, 2005

DoubleClick Goes Private

New York-based web advertising company DoubleClick said this morning that it has gone private in a $1.1B private equity deal. Hellman & Friedman LLC and San Diego-based JMI Equity will pay $8.50 per share to existing DoubleClick shareholders to acquire the entire interest in the firm. The two private equity firms have previously invested in Blackbaud, Mitchell International, and Vertafore. Kevin Ryan, current DoubleClick CEO will step down from the company following the acquisition. The move is the latest in a growing number of private equity technology buyout deals, where private investors purchase a public company with the intent to restructure and sell or re-IPO a firm after a few years. DoubleClick competes against Westlake Village-based ValueClick and Santa Barbara-based FastClick in serving advertising to Internet users.

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