Greenfield looks for greener pastures ... by going private

When Greenfield Online Inc. (NYSE: SRVY) went public in 2004, the shares spiked, hitting $24. But, as time went by, the company had troubles meeting Wall Street's expectations and the stock price eventually fell to $4.50 (in late 2005).

It was rough, but Greenfield was able to restructure things, and the stock price has tripled since 2005.

Despite this, it hasn't been enough for the folks at Greenfield and today the company announced it is going private in a $426 million transaction (or $15.50 per share). The private equity sponsor is Quadrangle Group LLC, which specializes in media and communications.

Greenfield has a nice business. It provides consumer research and uses dot-com approaches (such as comparison shopping engines). The company also has been effective in moving into foreign markets.

In Q1, revenues increased 13% to $30.9 million but there was loss of $113,000 or $0.01 per share, which included various charges, such as for a class action settlement.

So far in today's trading, Greenfield's shares are up 14% to $15.23.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.