Friday, August 29, 2008

Microsoft plows $486M into Greenfield Online buy

By Mass High Tech Staff

Greenfield Online Inc. reports that it reached an agreement to be acquired by Microsoft Corp. for $486 million.

Wilton, Conn.-based Greenfield Online (Nasdaq: SRVY) also reported that before the agreement with Microsoft it terminated a previously announced merger agreement with affiliates of Quadrangle Group LLC, requiring Greenfield Online to pay Quadrangle a $5 million fee.

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) has agreed to sell the assets of Greenfield Online’s Internet survey solutions (ISS) business to an unnamed buyer. The merger of Greenfield Online and Microsoft and Microsoft’s sale of the ISS business are scheduled to close simultaneously during the fourth quarter, but completion of the Microsoft deal is not contingent on the sale of the ISS business, officials said.

Greenfield Online, founded in 1994, is an interactive media and services company that collects consumer attitudes about products and services. It employs 778 workers.

The company completed an initial public offering in 2004, pulling in $58 million through the transaction. It then went on a buying spree, acquiring OpinionSurveys.com for $3 million in August 2004, Rapidata.net Inc. for $5.5 million in January 2005, Zing Wireless Inc. for $30 million in February 2005 and Ciao AG for $154 million in April of 2005.

In June, Greenfield Online agreed to be acquired by New York-based private investment firm Quadrangle Group LLC for $426 million in cash.

In 2007, the company posted $13 million in net income on $129 million in revenue.