Microsoft to Buy Online Ad Company aQuantive
Microsoft said today that it would buy the online advertising company aQuantive for $66.50 a share, or approximately $6 billion. It is Microsoft�s largest acquisition ever, and the latest in a flurry of deals for online advertising firms by big Internet and media companies. The deal comes on the heels of Google�s recent agreement to buy of DoubleClick for $3.1 billion, as well as the acquisitions of RightMedia by Yahoo and of 24/7 RealMedia by the advertising giant WPP Group. Microsoft, which had tried unsuccessfully to buy DoubleClick, faced competition for aQuantive, but was determined not to be outbid this time, executives said in a conference call.
Microsoft to Buy Online Ad Company, New York Times, May 18, 2007.
