After the Microsoft’s announced deal to buy aQuantive, stories about who else is left to be consolidated, and the main contender is Valueclick, the judgment on company’s real value is mixed.
-- Some analysts think ValueClick is still on its own because buyers are most interested in gaining ad serving technology, which only makes up a small portion of the company’s sales, this AP story says. The technology helps companies place and manage their online advertising. Still, analysts also think potential ValueClick buyers exist. Global Crown Capital analyst Martin Pyykkonen estimated the company could fetch as much as $4 billion, based on a premium over his current $33 price target for the company and the purchase prices of its peers.
-- Merriman Curhan Ford analyst Richard Fetyko pointed instead to Web marketing technology company Viewpoint Corp., saying its assets and technology make it a logical company to be purchased.
-- DJNewswires: Other remaining independent online-advertising specialists include closely held Exponential Interactive Inc. and Connexus. Exponential Interactive’s Tribal Fusion ad network ranked fifth on comScore’s March ranking. Connexus’ Vendare NetBlue ranked eighth.
-- CrainsNY: Tacoda, Quigo Technologies Inc., CheckM8 and Eyeblaster are all less than a decade old and have seen revenues at least double these past few years. “When a business like ours grows as fast as we are, you don’t want to sell,” says Dave Morgan, chairman of Tacoda, which delivers behavioral-targeted ads to a network of Web sites. ”We think we can become a public company in the future.”