CMGI Inc.-owned Engage Inc. moved to bolster its
advertising network Monday by grabbing privately-held MediaBridge Technologies Inc. for $268
million in stock.
Such deals are trademarks of Engage’s attempt to pull ahead of advertising
To acquire the cross media promotional solution provider, Engage will issue approximately 14.5 million shares of Engage common
stock to MediaBridge’s shareholders.
MediaBridge makes it possible for traditional media firms to bring their
promotional campaigns to life online. The play is expected to advance
Engage’s marketer-focused strategy by connecting Web site software
applications for merchants with Engage’s large online advertising network.
In addition to MediaBridge’s technology, Engage will pick up the firm’s
200-member client base, which includes such luminaries as The Wall Street
Journal and Dow Jones.
MediaBridge’s traditional media, retail and catalog customers use
MediaBridge’s software to access, store, manage and reuse rich-media
promotional campaigns and related data. MediaBridge’s newest product
offerings provide a closed-loop solution for a business’s marketing needs,
using information available across the enterprise to tailor specific,
targeted promotions distributed across multiple media and then drawing on
customer response data as feedback. Engage plans to incorporate
MediaBridge’s technology into its own marketing solutions to create an
efficient, time-saving solution.
Upon the close of the acquisition, which is expected by late summer,
MediaBridge will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Engage. Bob Angelo,
MediaBridge’s president and chief executive officer, will report to Paul
Schaut, president and chief executive officer of Engage. MediaBridge currently has more than 200
customers and employs 185 people in offices in Acton, Mass., Los Angeles,
Chicago and London.
Schaut said Engage’s goal is to help clients better understand and target
their online audiences using Engage Media solutions.
“We see a compelling business case for future revenue-driving applications
based on integrated solutions,” Schaut said. “As the number and variety of
new media proliferate, from the Internet, to wireless devices to enhanced
TV, the core value to marketers of MediaBridge’s content.server product will
grow accordingly.”
Engage’s made similar major acquisitions in January when it grabbed CMGI’s
Adsmart and Flycast Communications in a stock deal
worth about $2.4 billion. That deal, too, resulted in Engage bundling its
technology with assets from the other firms as it combined its Internet
ad-marketing products with Adsmart’s Web ad technology for online
advertisers and Flycast’s online direct response technology.
rival DoubleClick Inc.
