Bankrate Inc. (NYSE: RATE), a digital publisher of personal finance content, has agreed to a merger with privately held Red Ventures in which Bankrate shareholders will receive $14 in cash for each Bankrate share. The total value of the all-cash deal is approximately $1.4 billion.
The acquisition price represents a premium of 31% to Bankrate’s three-month average closing price and has been approved unanimously by the Bankrate board of directors.
The company’s stock closed at $12.85 on Friday and traded up more than 7% Monday morning at $13.75. The stock’s 52-week range is $6.91 to $12.95.
Red Ventures is headquartered in Fort Mill, South Carolina, and specializes in online marketing, telephone sales and building technology, according to a Bloomberg profile of the company. It was founded in 2000 and has operations in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Seattle, as well as São Paolo, Brazil and Waltham, Massachusetts.
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Ric Elias, CEO of Red Ventures said:
We’re excited to join forces with the Bankrate team, which has built an impressive and powerful platform of consumer-facing financial services content and brands. Our capabilities are highly complementary. We see significant potential to leverage our technology, strategic partnerships and digital expertise and build on Bankrate’s leading platforms to help more consumers find the financial services and products that meet their needs.
Bankrate CEO Kenneth Esterow said:
We are thrilled to have reached an agreement that delivers immediate and significant value to our shareholders while joining with Red Ventures, a world-class organization that will take the Bankrate businesses to the next level of success. As a part of Red Ventures, Bankrate will be better positioned than ever to be the partner of choice for providers to acquire customers.
The transaction is expected to close this year, subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.
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