WPP Buys 24/7 Real Media

May 18th, 2007

Speculation has raged on for the past few weeks, with most people betting that Microsoft would outbid any potential buyers to get their hands on 24/7 Real Media, in an attempt to level the competition since Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick.

While Microsoft has waited to make a move, WPP seem to have grabbed the opportunity and bought 24/7 Real Media for $649 Million, at a 30% premium on the company’s share price over the past two weeks.

WPP is the second largest marketing conglomerate in the world, after Omnicom. The advertising services company includes several major agencies, such as Grey, JWT, Ogilvy & Mather and Young & Rubicam. Their acquisition of 24/7 Real Media makes more business sense as the work done by the companies is parallel. 24/7 Real Media runs an online advertising network, which is their main source of revenue. The company also provides search marketing services.

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