24/7 Real Media in play?

Posted Apr 26th 2007 10:09AM by Tom Taulli
Filed under: Rumors, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO)

No doubt, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG)'s announcement to spend $3.1 billion in cash for DoubleClick is shaking things up in the online marketing sector.

Well, according to a piece in the New York Post, the rumor is that the global advertising agency -- WPP Group PLC (NASDAQ: WPPGY) – wants to shell out $600 million for 24/7 Real Media Inc. (NASDAQ: TFSM).

On the news, 24/7's shares spiked 17% to $9.94.

I think it would be a smart deal for both parties. WPP would be able to provide its mega clients with a value-add digital services as well as blunt the force of Google, Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT).

As for 24/7, it would get more scale from a business it has built over the last ten years.

True, this is just a rumor – and we're likely to get a lot of them. But so far, this one seems to be based on solid logic.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Tags: 24/7 Real Media, 24/7RealMedia