March 28, 2007 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Speculations arose Wednesday that software giant Microsoft (microsoft.com) may acquire online advertising sales and hosting company DoubleClick (doubleclick.com), as reported by the Wall Street Journal Wednesday.
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Private equity investors Hellman and Friedman of San Francisco, California and JMI Equity of San Diego, California bought DoubleClick for $1.1 billion in 2005. Since then, the company has taken a considerable shift as the firms have sold off some activities to focus on advertising.
Now Hellman & Friedman is now selling its stake in the company for an estimated $2 billion, and has enlisted the help of investment bank Morgan Stanley to help it find a buyer, the Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter. Microsoft is listed as among the companies already actively discussing a potential deal.
A DoubleClick spokesperson says that the London, UK staff had not heard anything about the negotiations, while Microsoft representatives in Europe refused to comment on "rumor and speculation."
