In a preliminary move toward raising cash, ad network and technology company 24/7 Media on Friday filed papers to register stock currently valued at $8.2 million, but didn’t indicate whether it would sell that stock on the open market, or through a private placement.
The document, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission after the market closed Friday, registered around 800,000 shares that the company will be selling. In addition, it registered approximately 1.2 million shares which will go to senior executives of companies acquired this year by 24/7, and to a company, Internet Financial Network, in which 24/7 invested in February. 24/7 Media’s stock closed at $10.09 on Friday.
While the company doesn’t indicate how it intends to sell its shares, 24/7 said net proceeds will be used to finance unspecified “acquisitions or investments,” with the remainder slated for operating money.
Although 24/7 Media’s stock is trading just above a 52-week low, there’s no indication that the company is short on dough. In its latest quarterly filing, the company said it had $38.9 million in cash and $5.5 million in marketable securities. In the past, 24/7 Media has sold some of its stake in chinadotcom Corp. to raise cash.
Still, the company may have registered the stock to sell on the public market in preparation for additional acquisitions, although the proposition of selling stock at such a low price must be unattractive. Alternatively, 24/7 Media may be forging an alliance with a strategic investor, in which case it would sell the stock through a private placement.
The other stock 24/7 Media sought to register on Friday will go to pay for acquisitions, including the mid-January purchase of IMAKE Software & Services, May’s buy of Kendro Communications Sarl by 24/7 Media Europe, and search-engine optimizer Website Results’s acquisition in late August.
Like many in the online marketing and advertising industry, the company has seen its stock plummet in recent months. Shares of TFSM hovered around the $60 range until the tech sector correction in mid-April.
