Sources close to the situation say that DoubleClick Inc. has enlisted the services of investment bank Morgan Stanley to look at options for selling the company or possibly a stock listing.
Evidently they are already in active talks with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and others say the those close to the negotiations.
DoubleClick serves the online advertising market by offering services that help to manage, measure and deliver online advertising across the Web. Revenue last year is reputed to be around $150 million. Of that, $100 million came serving and delivering the online ads for marketers.
The private-equity firm Hellman & Friedman are majority owners in the company and purchased the company in 2005 for about $1.1 billion. They've sold off some of the divisions of the company and have remolded it. They are reportedly asking for a minimum of $2 billion for DoubleClick.
This could be a good acquisition for a number of companies. Microsoft itself could benefit greatly from getting them, as they've been investing strongly in their own ad-delivery system. They are one of just many. Even Google (GOOG) could become a player in this, which could really put the screws down even harder on their competitors.
With Google rumored to be looking at testing the ad-serving market as well though, they look like they won't be interested in the purchase until they see how they do. If they do it, it could end up making companies wary of buying DoubleClick to only end up competing against Google. That leaves only a few potential buyers that could make it worthwhile doing.
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