DoubleClick to Buy Search Marketing Company

NEW YORK DoubleClick has agreed to purchase Performics, a company that specializes in search and affiliate marketing, in a deal worth up to $65 million.

The transaction, which is expected to close by mid-June, calls for DoubleClick to pay the Chicago-based company $58 million in cash and up to $7 million in earn-out payments.

Performics, which has about 130 staffers and clients like Bose, HP Shopping and Williams-Sonoma, automates paid-placement, paid-inclusion and comparison-shopping listings across multiple search engines. The company also helps marketers handle affiliate-marketing campaigns, managing, tracking and reporting on offers on publisher sites.

Once the deal is complete, DoubleClick plans to launch DART Search, a new product that will be integrated with DART for Advertisers. The New York-based online ad technology company hopes the combination will give clients the ability to measure the performance of their entire online spend, including keyword-search campaigns, banners and rich media units, in one location.

DoubleClick said it expects the acquisition to add $10 million in revenue over the second half of 2004, with search management revenue representing a little less than half of that total. In April, the company raised its 2004 revenue outlook to $294-314 million [IQ Daily Briefing, April 15].

Performics’ search and affiliate marketing capabilities will continue to be based in Chicago.