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.
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.”
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