Yesterday, integrated online marketing company, ValueClick, acquired Dotomi, a personalized ad technology and services company, for $295 million in cash and stock. Read the release.
Bill Todd, President of ValueClick Media, discussed the acquisition and its implications.
AdExchanger.com: Why was this the right time to buy Dotomi?
BT: This is a significant acquisition for ValueClick and our customers on a number of fronts. It gives our organization incremental scale and a dynamic messaging platform in display that is complementary to our existing offerings in ValueClick Media. Dotomi also has fantastic direct advertiser relationships and provides expertise in growing areas of our business like brand strategy and creative development. Further, the cross selling opportunities between ValueClick and Dotomi are significant. When you think about the combined offering of Commission Junction, ValueClick Media and Mediaplex analytics it is quite powerful.
Dotomi was active with real-time bidding. Is this a renewed commitment to RTB buying by ValueClick?
Both Dotomi and ValueClick Media are active on the RTB front. ValueClick Media has made significant investments over the past twelve months in this area. There are tremendous economies of scale to be had on the inventory side and we plan to leverage those in a big way.
The acquisition is not expected to close until the end of August. When it does Dotomi will be run as a standalone division within ValueClick. That said we have already begun to explore where there are natural synergies.
What happens to the Dotomi employees including CEO John Giuliani?
All Dotomi employees and CEO John Giuliani will remain with the company. The people of Dotomi are what made them successful and because of that we are 100% committed to keeping the team in place. John Giuliani will also be joining the VCLK board of directors.
What’s next on the acquisition trail? For example, are you satisfied with your video offering?
ValueClick is always on the lookout for well-run complimentary business’s to join our family. Dotomi represents the 16th acquisition ValueClick has made and you can be sure it won’t be our last.
As far as out video offering is concerned. We just launched our updated platform in April and have seen very strong traction in short order. We continue to be encouraged by what we are seeing in video.
ValueClick is undergoing an evolution from being known as just a performance based network to a complete one stop digital marketing services company. There has never been a more exciting time for our company and the
industry!
By John Ebbert
