DoubleClick to Acquire Rival NetGravity

DoubleClick Inc. said that it will buy rival Internet advertising company NetGravity Inc. for about $530 million in stock to add clients and improve the technology used to deliver ads to Web sites. DoubleClick will issue 0.28 share for each of San Mateo, Calif.-based NetGravity’s 17 million shares outstanding. That’s equivalent to $26.32 a share, or a 21% premium to NetGravity’s closing price of $21.75 on July 1, when speculation of a sale first arose. DoubleClick’s purchase would give it access to NetGravity’s technology, which some analysts say is better at handling large numbers of ads, and its clientele, which includes No. 1 cable Internet company Excite@Home Corp. and Time Warner Inc.’s CNN Interactive. In Nasdaq trading, NetGravity fell $2 to close at $25.50, while New York-based DoubleClick jumped $2.50 to close at $96.50.