IAR Bits and Bytes

DoubleClick Closes Japan Share Sale

Online ad giant DoubleClick announced Thursday that its Japanese offshoot has a new majority owner.

Trans Cosmos Inc. (TCI), a Japanese marketing company, completed a tender offer for 45,049 shares of DoubleClick Japan, giving it 62 percent of the company’s voting shares. In exchange, DoubleClick received about $14 million in cash, while its stake in DoubleClick Japan fell from 38.2 percent to 15.6 percent.

“We’re very pleased with the results of this transaction,” said Kevin Ryan, DoubleClick’s chief executive.

DoubleClick Japan will continue to sell DoubleClick’s DART products, the company said. The company was founded two years ago and completed a $27 million IPO in April 2001. In November, DoubleClick and TCI announced the tender offer, which included a long-term reseller agreement for DoubleClick Japan to sell DART. DoubleClick will also retain a seat on the board of directors.

Avalon Digital Scoops Up AGEA

Interactive marketing company Avalon Digital Marketing Systems announced Monday it acquired the assets of AGEA Corp, an Austin-based maker of messaging technologies.

The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, would allow Avalon Digital to branch into wireless text-messaging and other targeted advertising opportunities involving mobile devices, according to Robert Webber, Avalon’s president and CEO.

Huntington Beach, Calif.-based Avalon Digital will take over three-year-old AGEA’s technology, along with three employees and “several hundred thousand dollars” of cash, Webber said.