Steve Fletcher, managing director at boutique investment bank GCA Savvian, helped broker the Yahoo!/interclick deal and was lead financial adviser to interclick.
Fletcher discussed the transaction and its particulars.
AdExchanger.com: What are some of the key challenges of bringing together two public companies like Yahoo! and interclick?
SF: It’s always difficult to combine two public companies. However, Yahoo and interclick had a close working relationship prior to the transaction which should help facilitate this combination. Furthermore, with the acquisition, Yahoo is gaining an experienced team that will be additive to their existing sales capabilities.
How do you view the acquisition? Why is this in both companies’ best interests?
I think this is a great transaction for both sides. Interclick’s shareholders are receiving a premium over the market price prior to announcement and Yahoo is gaining a great set of ad targeting capabilities for its guaranteed and non-guaranteed inventory, as well as a terrific team. We view this as a true win-win for both sets of shareholders.
What’s driving consolidation today? How is this different than past consolidation periods, if you will?
I think buyers are being smart about what’s out there and finding capabilities that complement their existing strengths. It’s not about the best price; rather, it’s about finding a complementary asset with proprietary technology and a great team. As a result, we are seeing deals that are more strategic rather than simple add-ons or scale buys. We believe that there are plenty of excellent companies out there and the environment for building a great one-stop ad tech platform is very favorable.
Where do you see M&A going from here?
A lot of this may be macro-environment driven, but, as mentioned above, we think conditions are right to see smart, thoughtful acquisitions in the ad tech space.
By John Ebbert
