Excite, in a Diversification Play, Acquiring MatchLogic

Excite Inc. is buying online advertising firm MatchLogic Inc. of Louisville, CO, for 3.2 million shares or around $90 million.

Redwood City, CA-based Excite said MatchLogic, which posted more than $4 million in sales last year, will diversify the company’s advertising revenue streams with ad campaign management services.

Excite said it will begin using MatchLogic in March to provide advertising services on Excite and WebCrawler, Excite’s flagship brands. These solutions will be sold by Excite’s sales force.

MatchLogic will continue to provide campaign management services to top Internet agencies and their advertising clients. MatchLogic supports five data centers across the U.S. and Europe which served ads on over 2500 sites and over 500 million advertising impressions in December.

The firm valued the acquisition at $89 million, but a recent run-up in Excite’s stock price currently values the deal at about $107 million, based on the shares’ recent closing price. Company officials were not immediately available to say whether the firm would still issue 3.2 million shares or pay $89 million in stock, according to Reuters. Excite’s stock has shot up more than 50% in the past month.

MatchLogic’s shareholders and board have sanctioned the deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, the company said.