Google's acquisition of DoubleClick from private equity firms Hellman & Friedman LLC and JMI Equity marks another surprising chapter in one of Madison Avenue's most circuitous equity stories.
DoubleClick, which was formed in 1996 as a spin-off from Poppe Tyson, an industrial advertising unit of Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt, has grown and seen its equity value prosper through
spin-offs, mergers, public offerings, a dot-com bust, a leveraged buy-out and yet another sale that have enabled it to overshadow the ad agencies that originally spawned it.
The
names Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt--once one of Madison Avenue's greatest agencies--and its Poppe Tyson unit have faded into distant memories, but DoubleClick has grown to dominate the field of
online ad serving, as well as rich media production, ultimately amassing a market value of $3.1 billion. That's a nearly 78-fold increase from the roughly $40 million its progenitors reaped when they
spun it off as a public offering in 1998.
Here is a brief history of some of America's greatest ad agencies, and the Internet assets they gave life to.
1873: Foote, Cone & Belding
founded as one of America's first advertising agencies. One of its founders, Fairfax Cone, states: "Good advertising is always written from one person to another. When it is aimed at millions it
rarely moves anyone."
1921: Bozell and Jacobs launched. Lands Boy's Town account. Pens classic "He Ain't Heavy" copy line.
1929: Otis Kenyon and Henry Eckhardt form ad agency
Kenyon & Eckhardt. Early accounts include Kellogg Co., Quaker State Oil, and Ford's Lincoln-Mercury division.
1986: Bozell & Jacobs merges with Kenyon & Eckhardt.
1987: Modem
Media founded.
1993: Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt's B-to-B and industrial shop Poppe Tyson acquires Silicon Valley ad agency Carlick Advertising, and begins to reposition itself as a
pioneer in the field of Internet advertising.
1994: Foote, Cone & Belding restructures its parent operations as True North Communications.
1995: Poppe Tyson forms DoubleClick as
a division of its company.
1995: Kevin O'Connor and Dwight Merriman form Web technology developer Internet Advertising Network.
1996: Poppe Tyson spins off DoubleClick and it
merges with the Internet Advertising Network under the DoubleClick brand.
1996: True North Communications acquires Modem Media.
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, selling 3.5
million shares worth 20% of the company's equity at $17 a share. Shares rise to $31.75 during its first day of trading on Nasdaq, but close at $26.75--giving DoubleClick a market capitalization of
nearly half a billion dollars.
1998: True North Communications acquires Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt, blocking a hostile takeover attempt by French-owned agency holding company
Publicis.
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 Hellman & Friedman and JMI Equity in a deal valued at $1.1 billion.
January 2007: Publicis acquires Digitas for $1.3 billion.
April 2007: Google acquires
DoubleClick from Hellman & Friedman along with JMI Equity and management for $3.1 billion.