Are Millennial Media Shareholders Getting Enough in the Buyout?

By Chris Lange Published Sep 3, 10:10AM EDT

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Millennial Media Inc. (NYSE: MM) was leading the charge in the market on Thursday morning on news that it will be acquired. AOL announced its continued investment in cross-platform programmatic technology for marketers and publishers by signing an agreement to acquire Millennial Media for $1.75 per share. However the question remains: Are Millennial Media shareholders getting enough in this deal?

The transaction will take the form of a tender offer followed by a merger, with Millennial Media becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL upon completion. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and other closing conditions, and it is expected to close this fall.

After AOL was recently picked up by Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), and its global enterprise-level partnership with Microsoft, this announcement further strengthens AOL’s mobile capabilities and underlines its position as the first global mobile media technology company.

Following are a few of the highlights from the acquisition of Millennial Media:

Adding a leading supply-side platform for app monetization with over 65,000 apps to its publisher suite of offerings
Adding significant mobile brand advertising scale across ONE by AOL
Having access to approximately 1 billion global active unique users and robust addressable and cross-screen targeting capabilities
Accelerating its mobile position in key international markets, including Singapore, Japan, the United Kingdom, France and Germany
Adding world-class engineering, sales and product talent that specialize in mobile to AOL

Bob Lord, president of AOL, commented on the acquisition:

AOL is well positioned as consumers spend more and more time on mobile devices, and as advertisers, agencies and publishers become more reliant on programmatic monetization tools. As we continue to invest in our platforms and technology, the acquisition of Millennial Media accelerates our competitive mobile offering in ONE by AOL and enhances our current publisher offering with an ‘all in’ monetization platform for app developers.

ALSO READ: Why Big Media Stocks Have Collapsed

Millennial Media stock has a consensus analyst price target of $2.15, implying upside of 60% from Wednesday’s close of $1.34. However, over the past 52 weeks shares have been as high as $2.29, back in September of 2014. Looking back even farther, shares had an all-time high of $27.90 back in May of 2012, but since that time shares have slipped over the years to the current price level.

Shares of Millennial Media were up nearly 30% at $1.74 Thursday morning. The stock has a 52-week trading range of $1.18 to $2.29.

Verizon shares were up 1.2%, at $45.88 in a 52-week range of $38.06 to $51.73. The consensus price target is $51.42.

About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.