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DoubleClick deals again
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October 3, 2000: 10:40 a.m. ET
Internet advertiser acquiring e-mail database firm NetCreations for $200M
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - DoubleClick Inc. agreed Tuesday to purchase e-mail list management company NetCreations Inc. for nearly $200 million in stock, a move designed to dramatically improve its appeal to e-mail marketers.
The agreement, expected to close during the fourth quarter, will more than triple DoubleClick's database of e-mail addresses to 22 million and bring such customers as Dell Computer Corp. (DELL: Research, Estimates), Compaq Computer (CPQ: Research, Estimates), J. Crew and Ziff-Davis Inc. (ZD: Research, Estimates).
The transaction is DoubleClick's second acquisition in two weeks. Last week, the Internet advertising company acquired online market research company @plan.inc for about $120 million in stock and cash.
"NetCreations is not only a profitable company but the clear market leader in e-mail address list management and brokerage," DoubleClick CEO Kevin Ryan said, noting the deal "ensures that we will have the ability to provide the broadest range of e-mail marketing products in the business."
Terms of the transaction call for DoubleClick to issue 0.41 share for each of NetCreations' outstanding shares. That values New York-based NetCreations (NTCR: Research, Estimates) at $12.14 per share, a 3 percent premium over its closing price of $11.81 Monday.
 New York-based DoubleClick already operates an e-mail list service operation consisting of more than seven million e-mail addresses. NetCreations, through its PostMastersDirect.com product, maintains a database of 15 million e-mail addresses across more than 3,000 topics of interest.
But while the company is profitable -- it has earned about $4 million on sales of approximately $31 million so far this year -- it has experienced its share of trouble on Wall Street recently. Just last month, the stock shed nearly 40 percent of its value after company officials said NetCreations would badly miss analysts' third-quarter profit expectations because of a sharp decline in Internet advertising spending.
Robertson Stephens advised NetCreations during the negotiations.
In early trading Tuesday, NetCreations' stock remained more than 83 percent off its 52-week high of $69.75.
DoubleClick shares shed 63 cents to trade at $29 per share early Tuesday while NetCreations gained 6 cents to $11.44. 
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