• by April 26, 2005

IT'S A LONG, LONG ROAD -- The sale of DoubleClick to private equity firms Hellman & Friedman LLC and JMI Equity marks the end of one of Madison Avenue's most circuitous equity stories. For those who care to remember, DoubleClick began as a spin-off from Poppe Tyson, the moribund industrial ad unit of Bozell Jacobs Kenyon & Eckhardt, which became reborn by latching onto the Internet as an advertising medium at a time when most big agencies were still looking the other way. "Bozell who," you say?

Well, that part of the story began in 1921 when Leo Bozell and Morris Jacobs formed and ad agency whose first account was the Boys Town orphanage in Omaha. One of the ads the agency created for the boy's home used the copy line: "He ain't heavy, Father, he' m'brother," which went on to inspire a Hollywood movie and, eventually, The Hollies' 1969 hit song, "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother."

In 1986, Bozell & Jacobs merged with Kenyon & Eckhardt to form an even bigger ad shop that went on to create advertising that saved Chrysler Corp. and got people to think drinking milk was cool.

After Bozell merged with Modem Media parent True North Communications, Poppe Tyson was itself merged into Modem Media, which was subsequently spun off into its own publicl offering, and which ultimately was acquired by Digitas.

We're not sure how to figure the exact equity value that was created as dividends for Bozell shareholders, but The Hollies may have said it best:

It's a long, long road
From which there is no return
While we're on the way to there
Why not share

While you calculate those returns, and the number of shares, here's the timeline:

1921: Bozell and Jacobs launched. Land's Boy's Town account. Pens classic "He Ain't Heavy" copy line.

1938: MGM releases "Boy's Town" starring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney. Tracy wins best actor Oscar for his performance.

1969: The Hollies release "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother." The song goes to the top of the charts.

1986: Bozell & Jacobs merges with Kenyon & Eckhardt.

1987: Modem Media founded.

1996: DoubleClick spun off from Poppe Tyson. Emerges as online industry's leading ad-serving company.

1997: True North Communications, the parent of Foote, Cone & Belding, acquires Bozell. Bozell's interactive division, Poppe Tyson, is combined with FCB's Modem Media to form Modem Media.

1998: DoubleClick goes public.

1999: Modem Media is spun off from Interpublic into a separate publicly traded company on Nasdaq.

2001: The Interpublic Group acquires True North.

2003: Interpublic sells off its remaining stake in Modem Media.

2004: Digitas acquires Modem Media in a stock-for-stock deal valued at $200 million.

2005: DoubleClick sold to private equity firms in a deal valued at $1.1 billion.