ValueClick has officially acquired mobile ad network Greystripe in a deal value at $70 million. According to a ValueClick press release, some revenue numbers on Greystripe: “For the remainder of 2011, Greystripe is expected to contribute to ValueClick’s consolidated results approximately $24-$26 million in revenue and $2-$3 million in adjusted-EBITDA.” Read more.
Referencing this morning’s press release, ValueClick vp of corporate development and investor relations, Gary Fuges, discussed the acquisition and its implications.
AdExchanger.com: How will you integrate the Greystripe team at ValueClick? Will it remain autonomous?
GF: We currently anticipate that Greystripe will remain autonomous as a wholly-owned subsidiary within ValueClick Media. We believe there are significant cross-selling opportunities for Greystripe with ValueClick’s existing advertiser relationships. Also, our ValueClick Media network team will help Greystripe expand its network’s reach as well.
We anticipate that we will retain the Greystripe brand in some form, but the details are TBD.
Will all Greystripe employees be joining VC including the exec team?
Greystripe’s management team and employee base have been retained by ValueClick and the business will be run as a wholly-owned subsidiary within ValueClick Media. Greystripe CEO, Michael Chang, will report to ValueClick CEO Jim Zarley.
Do you plan on any future acquisitions? What areas are of interest – video, perhaps?
We have stated on prior earnings calls that we are interested in moving “up the marketing funnel” to address branding budgets through organic growth initiatives and corporate development. Greystripe provides immediate scale in the US mobile ad market, and we are interested in adding scale in other established areas of the brand advertising market. Stay tuned.
Why is the timing right for the Greystripe acquisition from both a ValueClick and larger market opportunity perspective?
The acquisition will provide ValueClick immediate scale in the U.S. mobile advertising market, a $1.1 billion market that is expected to nearly double to $2.0 billion by 2013 (Source: eMarketer).
We believe there are significant synergy opportunities in traffic/publishers and advertisers between the two companies. ValueClick works with big advertisers, but not typically on their branding budgets.
Greystripe’s in-app and mobile website campaigns can be cross-sold into the ValueClick advertiser base. ValueClick has massive amounts of publisher relationships, which have the potential to add mobile inventory to Greystripe’s network.
By John Ebbert
