ValueClick Names New CEO; Takeover Hopes Fade

by: Eric Savitz May 31, 2007 | about stocks: VCLK    
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ValueClick (VCLK) Wednesday night switched CEOs: Tom A. Vadnais succeeds James R. Zarley, who stays with the company as executive chairman and shifts his focus to the company’s strategic direction.

Vadnais has been an officer and director at the company since 2001.

The news is pressuring ValueClick shares; my guess is that the CEO change is not something the company would do if it was about to sell itself. The stock in recent weeks has gotten a lift from speculation that it might be acquired in the Internet advertising buyout frenzy that has claimed aQuantive (AQNT), DoubleClick, 24/7 (TFSM) and others, although enthusiasm for the shares has been tempered by an FTC probe of the company’s lead-generation unit.

ValueClick Thursday is down $1.41 at $32.03.

VCLK 1-yr chart:
vclk chart

Eric Savitz

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This article has 2 comments:

  •  
    May 31 11:11 PM
    In today's (5/31/07) Mad Money, Jim Cramer was asked by a caller about the future of VCLK. He was both positive and emphatic -- that VCLK remains a buyout candidate. Based on data provided by my online broker, the stock seems to have closed at 31.33, -2.11. omooc
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  •  
    Jul 18 09:06 AM
    From JPM Securities (July 17th):
    <blockquote>
    ValueClick announced a significant acquisition yesterday of MeziMedia, the publisher of comparison shopping site Smarter.com and promotional marketing site Couponmountain.com. According to comScore, MeziMedia sites attracted 10.5 million users during the month of June. ValueClick paid an initial $100 million in cash for the company with the possibility for an additional $250 million on an earnout. We estimate that ValueClick will have paid between 6x and 12x 2008 EBITDA depending on the performance of the business over the next 18 months. Our research suggests that Mezi is on pace to generate roughly $55 million in revenue and $15 million in EBITDA this year, up from $40 million in revenue and $10 million of EBITDA in 2006. From a strategic perspective, the deal fits well with ValueClick's Comparison Shopping unit and should be another highly accretive acquisition for ValueClick. We continue to like the stock and reiterate our Strong Buy rating and $35 target.
    </blockquote>
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