By Sonya Rabbitte, 13 November 2001 13:42
NEWS Online advertising agency Adlink has bought Doubleclick's cash-strapped European operations for E30.5m (£18m). Over 700 jobs have been axed at the troubled division during the past year, and just last week DoubleClick's media unit head, Barry Salzman, quit the company, after top management said the poorly performing operation was hitting company profitability. The merged entity will operate in Europe under the Adlink brand name, while Doubleclick's European technology division will continue to license its advertising software under the Doubleclick name. Richard Holman, managing director of Adlink UK, said the takeover will eventually see Adlink's advertising reach 50 per cent of European internet users. "This creates a strong organisation with value for us, our customers and our shareholders. It adds stability to how people perceive us," he said. The Interactive Advertising Bureau said the news came as no surprise. Danny Meadows-Klue, IAB chief executive, said: "The move is by no means out of kilter with the market, we're seeing a great consolidation trend, and we've been seeing it for the past few years." The deal is still subject to shareholder approval, but is due to be finalised by the first quarter of 2002.
In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.
Log in or create your silicon.com account below