Yahoo agrees to buy Interclick for $270 million

Yahoo Inc. agreed to buy Interclick Inc. for $270 million in cash to help advertisers reach online users with more targeted messages.

Yahoo, which has been exploring its strategic options, may use the purchase to revive sales of display advertising, such as banner ads, which stalled last quarter.

The deal comes as Yahoo is seeking a chief executive after it fired Carol Bartz in September. The Sunnyvale, Calif., company also has embarked on a strategy review as it grapples with competition from Google Inc. and Facebook Inc.

Yahoo is leaning toward selling Asian assets and redistributing the proceeds to shareholders, rather than selling itself to a group of buyers, people familiar with the situation said. Yahoo may also seek buyers for a minority stake or for the entire company after finding acquirers for the Asian businesses, the people said.

“The company needs to improve their display advertising business,” said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Partners.

Yahoo’s share of display ads in the U.S. will be 13.1% this year, down from 14.4% last year, EMarketer Inc. estimates.

Interclick stockholders will get $9 a share, Yahoo said Tuesday. That’s 22% more than the closing price Monday of New York-based Interclick, which assists companies in marketing to customers based on their online behavior.

Shares of Yahoo fell 71 cents, or 4.5%, to $14.93. Interclick shares rose $1.54, or 20.8%, to $8.94.