Acxiom is acquiring Digital Impact for $3.50 per share in cash in a transaction valued at approximately $140 million based on fully diluted shares.
It is expected that Digital Impact will have approximately $20 million in cash on closing. Acxiom and Digital Impact will hold a conference call at 8:00 a.m. CST today to discuss this information further.
The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction. Under the definitive purchase agreement, a wholly owned subsidiary of Acxiom Corporation will make a cash tender offer for all Digital Impact, Inc. shares. The acquisition is subject to at least 50.1% of the shares of Digital Impact, Inc. being tendered, as well as other customary closing conditions. All directors and key officers of Digital Impact, Inc. have agreed to tender their shares. Following the purchase of shares in the tender offer, a subsidiary of Acxiom Corporation and Digital Impact, Inc. will merge. Owners of Digital Impact shares not purchased in the tender offer will be entitled to receive $3.50 per share in cash. The tender offer is expected to close within approximately 30 days subject to customary regulatory approvals.
“We are excited at the prospect of joining forces with an industry leader like Acxiom,” said William Park, chairman and CEO of Digital Impact. “Digital Impact’s employees will continue to provide world-class service as part of a larger and more diversified company that Fortune magazine has recognized five times as one of ‘The 100 Best Companies To Work For in America.’ In addition, the acquisition will provide Digital Impact’s clients with access to Acxiom’s world-class data assets and data management and integration expertise. It is hard to imagine a better combination of technologies, services, people and clients in the direct marketing industry than Acxiom and Digital Impact.”
The acquisition of Digital Impact, a leading provider of integrated on-line marketing solutions for global 2000 companies, will give Acxiom an immediate and significant presence in the growing digital technology marketplace. Digital Impact uses its proprietary technology platform to deliver on-line marketing campaigns and offers an end-to-end solution that includes designing, sending and analyzing the results of each campaign. The company executes these campaigns across multiple media channels, including personalized e-mail, targeted websites, web advertisements, search engines and direct mail.
“Over the last few years, there have been great advances in technology designed specifically for on-line marketing channels. And today, marketing executives rely on these channels as an integral part of their customer marketing, customer service and customer acquisition strategies,” Acxiom Company Leader Charles D. Morgan said. “With the growing demand and spend in this category, Acxiom believes this is an ideal time to enter this space in a leadership position. Digital Impact’s people, technology and market and industry knowledge will allow us to do just that.”
With the acquisition of the Silicon Valley-based company, Acxiom continues its strategy of providing clients with a full suite of direct marketing services designed to meet the challenges of today’s marketing environment through the deployment of innovative technology solutions.
“Acxiom is committed to providing our global clients a comprehensive array of services that scale to meet the needs of their direct-to-consumer programs,” said Acxiom Marketing Leader Richard Howe. “Digital Impact’s superior on-line agency and interactive marketing solutions will meet the large-scale needs of the nation’s largest marketers while at the same time expanding the markets we can serve by complementing our January acquisition of mid-tier marketing services provider SmartDM.”
Based on business trends and client demand, Digital Impact expects fiscal 2006 revenue to be $46 million to $52 million, 9 to 23 percent higher than the current fiscal 2005 consensus analysts’ estimate of $42.2 million.
murdok | Breaking eBusiness News
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