Greenfield Online Sold in $426m Private Equity Deal

Greenfield Online is to be sold to private media and communications investment firm the Quadrangle Group for approximately $426m (£217m).

Financed by a combination of equity provided by Quadrangle and debt, for which Quadrangle has received financing commitments, and cash on hand at the company, the transaction is expected to close in the late third quarter or fourth quarter of 2008.

The investor will acquire all Greenfield's outstanding stock for $15.50 per share in cash, which represents a premium of c.17% above the closing share price of $13.28 last Friday.

Greenfield President and CEO Albert Angrisani said he expects the transition to be a positive one for the business, its customers and its employees. In addition, the firm's Board of Directors has given the sale the thumbs up, and recommends to stockholders that they do the same.

Quadrangle's Managing Principal Gordon Holmes commented: 'We are impressed with the firm's international leadership position in online comparison shopping and survey research, as well as its record of strong growth. Using our New York and London offices and our new office in Silicon Valley, we were able to fully analyze and appreciate the strength of Greenfield's global platform, and determine that it represents an attractive investment opportunity for Quadrangle.'

News of the sale comes after a turbulent two and a half years for Angrisani, who was brought in from Harris Interactive in 2005 to turn around the firm's ailing fortunes. At the time, stock was valued at just $6.20 per share, and Angrisani described the company's financial results as 'not acceptable'. After implementing a programme of initiatives, last year, he reported a return to profit.

Recently, Angrisani has also had to deal with the fallout from a lawsuit which claims that financial projections in 2005 were 'false and misleading' and that certain company employees engaged in 'inappropriate activity' that was inconsistent with Greenfield's revenue recognition policies.

Greenfield itself paid $150m for Munich-based Ciao AG in April 2005.

Web sites: www.greenfield.com , www.ciao-surveys.com and www.quadranglegroup.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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