Bid made for Tradedoubler

**Nicky** · 15-01-07

http://news.morningstar.com/news/Vie...&Cat=MktDigest

Interesting start to the New Year!

Nicky

**Qui Gon Jinn** · 15-01-07

interesting development .. not surprised .. with a few bob in shares with them .. obviously keenly looking out.

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=T...=on&z=m&q=l&c=

buy more ? sell exisiting? hold ?

**aotagain** · 15-01-07

So, what to make of it ?
My immediate reaction is alarm bells.
ISP now gets detailed aff. conversion data for major retailers.
AOL search is Google powered.
The people charging you for PPC now know what conversion there is for each TD merchant you're promoting.

Conflict of interest ?

**hpops** · 15-01-07

Congratulations to the board and staff - good deal all round. I think we've all predicted consolidation and Mergers/aquisitions being a theme this year. I wouldn't imagine the effects will be felt by publishers/affiliates for a half year. Certainly interested in how this will affect the market in the long run though

**Supercod** · 15-01-07

Good for them, going to make even more people take an interest in Affiliate Marketing. This offer has raised the "value" of what everyone is doing

**aotagain** · 15-01-07

Yet another reason imo for creating a branded aff. site that's sticky, so not dependent on search results or PPC.

At the moment you can do it for reasonable money using PPC - I don't think that will last for many years. ISP's are desperate for new revenue streams - they are big businesses and they will exploit whatever market leverage they can bring to bear.

**Michael_Anthony** · 15-01-07

From what I understand, TD was for sale for almost 2 years. Looks like AOL have once again bought at the top of the market. The value is in their merchant list of course, and their pan European coverage, but as you say, it will be interesting.

It's an open secret that Google are working on a direct CPA offering to merchants, and given this news I reckon the guys at the plex will be bringing the launch forward somewhat. If they are ready before AOL can properly integrate TD into their business, and let's face it their management has shown in the past that this type of deal is not exactly their strong point, then AOL's $900 million will have been a waste of money.

It doesn't say in the article if the offer is in shares or cash, nor if AOL intend to retain the key TD personnel. My bet is that it's shares, in which case the sellers will be locked in for a few years before they can sell, which makes the $900 million a gamble on AOL's ability to grow the business. If AOL fall on their face, they won't have anything like $900 million left to show for it.

**aotagain** · 15-01-07

Don't you guys see a problem with an ISP having detailed merchant conversion data ?

**Supercod** · 15-01-07

Originally Posted by Michael_Anthony

It doesn't say in the article if the offer is in shares or cash,

I think it is an all cash deal.

**hpops** · 15-01-07

yup - all cash deal

**drivetowin** · 15-01-07

Originally Posted by aotagain

Don't you guys see a problem with an ISP having detailed merchant conversion data ?

Not particularly, if AOL are like the other ISPs then with the volume of sales through their portal (many AOL users will have had their homepage set to aol.com when they signed up to AOL and will never have changed it) - they will have a fair volume of conversion data to work on already - it's not like they don't already run CPA deals (though granted most of their ads on the homepage are more likely to be on a tenancy basis).

This sounds on the whole like it's a good deal for shareholders in TD - as long as we don't see wholesale staff changes then I don't see any real reason for affiliates to get too concerned - as Clarke says, a big name like Time Warner buying into the affiliate space raises the value of everyone's stake.

**Darren** · 15-01-07

Originally Posted by aotagain

Don't you guys see a problem with an ISP having detailed merchant conversion data ?

I'm pretty sure this AOL is different from the AOL ISP. I know AOL UK was bought by Carphone Warehouse last year, for example.

**Michael_Anthony** · 15-01-07

$900 million cash sets a lovely precedent. If they can make it work, even more so. What fantastic news for anyone with a stake in a network. What a great way to start the week!

I bet Malcolm and Steve at buy.at are gutted that they only asked Cazenove for £5 million now, and I bet Cazenove are rubbing their hands with glee.

**Jazz** · 15-01-07

Well done to all at Tradedoubler. I think this was a move they could not be expected to turn down.

Regarding having a big name as Time Warner associated with affiliate marketing has got to have a positive affect on the presence of affiliate marketing but as 'aotagain’ correctly stated I recon there is a lot AOL as an ISP can do with the top retailers information on conversion rates and revenue which solud be worrying

.

**Supercod** · 15-01-07

Update:

But Swedish pension group Alecta, which said it owns 10.01 percent of TradeDoubler, rejected the bid, saying it undervalued the company.

AOL said the deal's closing was conditional on 90 percent of TradeDoubler shares accepting the offer.

Source is Reuters here is the link

http://today.reuters.com/news/articl...&from=business