DoubleClick’s Owners Put Company Up for Sale, Seek $2 Billion

By Justin Baer and Tim Mullaney

March 28 (Bloomberg) — DoubleClick Inc.’s owners put the Internet advertising company up for sale and may seek about $2 billion, according to a person familiar with the sale.

DoubleClick hired Morgan Stanley to review options that may also include going public, said the person, who declined to be identified because the decision is confidential. Microsoft Corp. is among companies interested in buying DoubleClick, the Wall Street Journal reported today, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation.

Hellman & Friedman LLC, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, is seeking to double its money after buying DoubleClick for $1.1 billion in 2005. DoubleClick works with advertisers to create online campaigns, such as streaming video clips. The New York-based company’s Dart technology monitors the performance of Internet ads for marketing companies, making it attractive to a company such as Microsoft.

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