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June 18, 2003 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Pay Per Click (PPC) search engine FindWhat.com (findwhat.com) announced today an agreement to merge with Espotting Media Inc. (espotting.com), a popular European PPC engine. According to the companies, the merger will create a large international group serving approximately 40,000 advertisers with combined revenues of over $140 million in 2003.
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“We believe this announcement changes the landscape of the paid listings industry, creating a new international leader,? said Craig Pisaris-Henderson, chairman and CEO of FindWhat.com. ?The proposed merger intends to capitalize on both companies’ experience in serving advertisers and distribution partners of all sizes, across the widest geographic footprint in our sector.?
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Under the proposed terms of the transaction, which was unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of each company, Espotting stockholders will receive approximately 8.1 million shares of FindWhat.com common stock and approximately $27.0 million in cash.
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The merger is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2003.
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?The combination will allow the two companies to bring together the best of their respective talents,? said Daniel Ishag, founder and CEO of Espotting. ?We believe this will help enhance the expert local knowledge they each bring to their respective markets, rewarding advertisers with increased ability to achieve greater reach through one company. This is an exciting opportunity for our businesses.”
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Both companies said they expect that the merger will lead to faster revenue and profit growth in 2004 and beyond than would have been achieved by either company on its own.
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Both companies compete in the same paid search segment as firms like Overture and Google, which has recently seen a great deal of success with its AdWords keyword bidding program.
