Tech Dealmaker Awards

While many companies continue to focus on the Internet’s disruptive potential in e-commerce, Needham’s TechTarget Inc. has been focusing on the fact that just about every major purchase made today — whether online or offline — is researched on the web. The company has been watching advertisers migrate to more targeted, measurable online media and is reaping those ad-dollar rewards by generating highly read corporate information technology-related content.

TechTarget CEO Greg Strakosch believes that’s what led to the company executing a $75 million IPO in May. The company sold 7.7 million shares of its common stock at $13 per share. Of that amount, almost 1.3 million shares were sold by existing stockholders. On May 17, the company began trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol TTGT.

“Investors understand what is going on with traditional media, with online advertising and with ROI.” said Strakosch. “So they understand that there is a lot of tailwind at our back.”

TechTarget will use the IPO funds to grow the business both organically and through strategic buys, Strakosch said, adding the company has been cash-positive since 2002.

In November, TechTarget acquired KnowledgeStorm, a major player in IT lead generation. TechTarget paid $58 million for the firm, $52 million of which was in cash. The company reports it expects KnowledgeStorm to bring in revenue of $12 million to $14 million over the next 12 months. Just as importantly, KnowledgeStorm brings with it 700 advertisers.

— Stephen Desantis is a freelance writer in Roxbury.

Category

Initial Public Offering

The Deal

TechTarget Inc. executes on a $75 million IPO. The company was public as of May 17, 2007.

Key Executives

Greg Strakosch, CEO; Don Hawk, president; Eric Sockol, CFO; Kevin Beam, vice president; Rick Olin, general counsel.

Deal advisers

Legal: Goodwin Procter LLP; Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr..
Financial: Morgan Stanley & Co.; Lehman Brothers Inc.; Cowen and Co. LLC; RBC Capital Markets; Ernst & Young.

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