On A New Media Roll, Gannett Acquires PointRoll

Gannett Co., the nation's largest newspaper publisher, Friday continued its diversification into new media, announcing the acquisition of PointRoll Inc., a major developer of rich media for online advertisers. The move is the latest in a spate of online deals by newspaper companies.

Last week, E.W. Scripps Co. announced a deal to buy comparison shopping site Shopzilla for $525 million, and a group of newspaper publishers including Gannett, Knight Ridder and Tribune Co., acquired a majority share of online news aggregator Topix.net. Recently, The New York Times Co. acquired About.com from Primedia for $410 million, while Dow Jones purchased MarketWatch for more than $500 million.

Terms of Gannett's latest acquisition were not disclosed, but it was widely reported that Gannett paid $100 million for PointRoll, known for creating ad banners that expand when users roll a mouse over them.

The move came about five months after PointRoll tapped investment firm Jordan, Edmiston Group Inc. to explore a possible sale. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that PointRoll, based in Fort Washington, Pa., expects sales to reach at least $35 million this year.

advertisement

advertisement

PointRoll Chief Executive Jules Gardner will leave the company he founded in 2000, while Chris Saridakis, PointRoll's chief operating officer and a former executive at DoubleClick Inc., will become CEO.

Gannett, which owns 101 daily newspapers, including USA Today, and 21 television stations, plans to put PointRoll technology to use on its 120-plus Web sites, said a company spokeswoman. The deal also signals more diversification for Gannett into new media. Last year, Gannett acquired Captivate, a place-based media network, which operates video advertising terminals in the elevators of high-rise office buildings, including New York's Empire State Building.

Next story loading loading..