MessageMedia provides marketers with a variety of email marketing solutions and services, including its M3Platform, a full service e-messaging solution, and UnityMail 4.0, an award-winning licensed software. MessageMedia’s e-messaging solutions deliver over 100 million emails per month for more than 310 leading marketers including Cisco, E*Trade, Columbia House, Intuit, Starwood Hotels, Fleet Boston Financial, and Bluelight.com. DoubleClick currently delivers over 600 million emails per month for over 240 clients including Procter & Gamble, J.Crew, The Wall Street Journal Online, and Virgin MegaStores.com.
Under the terms of the acquisition, DoubleClick will issue 0.0436 of a share of DoubleClick common stock for each share of MessageMedia common stock. Based on DoubleClick’s 10-day average closing stock price ending May 31, 2001, the exchange ratio represents a per share price of $0.60, a 42% premium over MessageMedia’s 10-day average closing stock price. The transaction, which will be accounted for as a purchase, is subject to certain conditions, including MessageMedia stockholder approval. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2001.
As a result of this transaction, DoubleClick will be able to provide customers with a full range of solutions including full service and self-service outsourced email technology, a software solution, and consulting services. In addition, MessageMedia’s experience in Europe will assist with DoubleClick’s expansion into the European email space. DoubleClick plans to continue to support the M3Platform for the foreseeable future and, over time, will integrate that platform with its DARTmail and FloNetwork technologies.
This acquisition reinforces our commitment to deliver flexible email marketing solutions to our global customer base, said Court Cunningham, Vice President and General Manager of DARTmail Technology, DoubleClick. With this acquisition, we will expand our customer base to over 500 leading direct marketers and increase the number of personalized emails delivered to over 700 million per month.
DoubleClick’s commitment to developing the most robust email marketing solutions in the market, coupled with their strong financial position, make this transaction a strategic fit for MessageMedia, said Larry Jones, President and CEO of MessageMedia. Together we will be able to provide a suite of solutions that deliver highly integrated, cost-effective email campaigns for businesses that want to enhance the level of their customer communications.
This acquisition builds on DoubleClick’s position as the leading email technology provider. In April, DoubleClick closed its acquisition of FloNetwork, a Toronto-based, email marketing technology provider. DoubleClick’s suite of email marketing products combines the power of email and permission-based marketing to provide powerful, integrated solutions to help online marketers and publishers develop profitable lifetime customer relationships. Currently, DoubleClick’s eMail suite includes both the DARTmail and FloNetwork delivery platforms, as well as DoubleClick eMail List Services, which helps list owners monetize their opt-in email names and helps list renters find and target the most responsive prospects for their email marketing efforts.
