CMGI Takes Controlling Stake in European Ad Firm

CMGI, the Internet venture capital firm and holding company, has acquired an 80 percent interest in ADTECH Advertising Service Providing GmbH, a German ad serving firm.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

CMGI, whose advertising-related investments include Engage, Flycast, yesmail.com, and AdSmart, intends to merge ADTECH with another of its companies, AdForce. CMGI bought AdForce in September for $500 million in stock.

The deal would make ADTECH the European arm of AdForce, which currently has offices in the US and Hong Kong. The soon-to-be-merged companies have been working together for the past two years.

“The ADTECH acquisition and merger with AdForce is yet another step in our ongoing strategy to solidify CMGI’s competitive position in Europe and the international Internet marketplace at large,” says David Andonian, president of corporate development for CMGI.

“The transaction folds the growth that ADTECH has achieved through licensing AdForce’s ad serving technology into the CMGI and @Ventures network and enables us to leverage their international reach, customers, and partnerships.”

ADTECH is the first international acquisition CMGI has made, although its companies opened divisions in Europe in the past two years. Engage operates offices in the UK and Germany, and its subsidiary, I/PRO, runs a European arm.