Online marketing services company ValueClick said April 25 that it has acquired Greystripe, a mobile advertising network, for about $70 million in cash.
The deal gives ValueClick a greater presence in the US mobile ad market. Analysts expect that market to double in size by 2013, Westlake Village, Calif.-based ValueClick said in a statement announcing the acquisition.
The deal will give ValueClick additional brand marketing capabilities as well, said Gary Fuges, VP of corporate development and investor relations at ValueClick.
“We do a lot of work with large brands, but we primarily participate in their direct response-type work,” he said. “We really wanted to move up to meet their brand advertising needs.”
Greystripe CEO Michael Chang will report directly to James Zarley, CEO of ValueClick. Greystripe will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of ValueClick, and it will likely keep its brand in some form.
“Greystripe has great traction in the mobile space, and we haven’t quite decided what the ultimate market-facing brand is going to be. Greystripe will be a part of it, but it’s just a matter of how we’re going to do that,” said Fuges.
ValueClick expects Greystripe to contribute between $24 million and $26 million in revenue for the rest of 2011.
ValueClick expects to retain all 39 Greystripe employees, said Fuges. The mobile ad network has clients in the retail, consumer product goods, entertainment and automotive sectors and offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit and Seattle.
