M&A Deal Summary

Ask.com Acquires Direct Hit Technologies

On February 2, 2000, Ask.com acquired information technology company Direct Hit Technologies from TA Associates for 506M USD

Acquisition Highlights
  • This is Ask.com’s 1st transaction in the Information Technology sector.
  • This is Ask.com’s largest (disclosed) transaction.
  • This is Ask.com’s 1st transaction in the United States.
  • This is Ask.com’s 1st transaction in Massachusetts.

M&A Deal Summary
Date 2000-02-02
Target Direct Hit Technologies
Sector Information Technology
Buyer(s) Ask.com
Sellers(s) TA Associates
Deal Type Add-on Acquisition
Deal Value 506M USD

Target

Direct Hit Technologies

Natick, Massachusetts, United States
Direct Hit is a second-generation search engine company that provides results to its OEM partners, as well as its own site.

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Buyer(S) 1

Buyer

Ask.com

Oakland, California, United States

website

Category Company
Sector Internet Software and Services
DESCRIPTION

Ask.com operates the question and answer site ask.com.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 1 of 5
Sector (Information Technology) 1 of 1
Type (Add-on Acquisition) 1 of 5
State (Massachusetts) 1 of 1
Country (United States) 1 of 4
Year (2000) 1 of 2
Size (of disclosed) 1 of 2
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2000-02-15 The Evergreen Project

United States

The Evergreen Project, Inc. is a provider of K-12 Web-based programs in life science, geography and environmental economics.

Buy $4M

Seller(S) 1

SELLER

TA Associates

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor

website

Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1968
PE ASSETS 65.0B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

TA Associates is a private equity firm that targets investments in middle-market and large companies around the world. TA will consider control or minority investments in profitable companies and looks to commit between $70 and $500 million per transaction. TA proactively reaches out to companies directly in sourcing potential investment opportunities. Prospective businesses are generally valued between $100 million and $3 billion. Areas of interest include technology, software, communications, financial services, healthcare, business services, semiconductors/electronics, and consumer products/services. In addition to investing equity capital, TA also makes subordinated debt investments. TA's geographic preference is North America, Asia/Pacific, and Europe. TA Associates was formed in 1968 and is based in Boston, Massachusetts.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 62 of 254
Sector (Information Technology) 5 of 21
Type (Add-on Acquisition) 31 of 129
State (Massachusetts) 10 of 24
Country (United States) 59 of 206
Year (2000) 3 of 10
Size (of disclosed) 25 of 67
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2000-01-01 Pivotpoint

Alpharetta, Georgia, United States

Pivotpoint, Inc. is a premier provider of extended enterprise application (EEA) solutions for mid-sized manufacturing and distribution organizations.

Sell -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2000-03-17 Teltrend

St Charles, Illinois, United States

Teltrend designs and manufactures a broad range of electronic units that the telephone companies and other service providers use to extend voice and data services from local telephone central offices to their customers.

Sell $706M
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