Data solutions of the sort that Datalogix provides are hot right now, and the company hopes that fact will drive up its eventual sale price.
As it reached out to would-be buyers this fall, Datalogix hoped to get as much as $1 billion, sources say. Factoring in estimated 2014 revenues of $125 million, that figure implies a generous 8x multiple.
The new details emerged in the wake of AdExchanger’s Tuesday report that Datalogix was looking for a buyer. As reported in that story, Nielsen is considered to be top runner in the race for Datalogix (neither company would confirm its interest) and that Facebook had dropped out as a contestant. Now – and also new – we hear enterprise marketing giant Adobe Systems may have interest as a strategic buyer in this particular deal-war.
Datalogix chairman Rob Gierkink and primary investor General Catalyst — where Gierkink is a partner — are evidently behind the $1 billion target price. But some offers are far lower than that. On Tuesday, a report from The Deal pegged low-end offers at about $200 million.
Datalogix is not yet profitable, according to one source.
And as another put it, “I am not sure the business has the margins or sufficient proprietary data to command that [$1 billion] price, and I very much doubt Nielsen would get anywhere close to that.”
This person followed up that assessment with this zinger: “Frosty the Snowman has a better chance in the Sahara than Datalogix does of getting $1 billon.”
Adobe has an existing relationship with Datalogix, as does Nielsen. Datalogix Syndicated Audiences, which the company quantifies as 700 pre-built audience segments based on offline data representing some 110 million households and $1 trillion in purchase transactions, are accessible through integrations with the following Adobe products: Adobe Target, Audience Manager, Experience Manager, Media Optimizer and Primetime products.
The question is, should Adobe swoop in on Datalogix and usurp Nielsen, what residual effect could that have on Facebook and Datalogix’s strategic partnership?
Adobe declined comment.
Zach Rodgers contributed.
