© Reuters. Criteo SA (CRTO) begins a new sale process – Reuters
By Sam Boughedda
According to Reuters on Tuesday, Criteo SA (NASDAQ:) is making a new attempt to sell itself after previous talks with potential buyers were unsuccessful.
The Paris-based ad-tech provider began a sale process last week, according to Reuters sources, on advice from investment bank Evercore Inc.
Criteo, an advertising company that provides display ads online, saw its shares rise more than 8% following today’s report.
In 2021, Bloomberg reported that Criteo was evaluating acquisition interest from potential buyers. Reuters stated that it is unclear what prompted talks about the new deal, but the company has been trying to reassure shareholders that it can overcome current hurdles after Apple (NASDAQ:) and Google (NASDAQ:) moved to tighten privacy standards on their mobile devices.
Criteo’s selling process is said to draw interest from buying companies that have previously shown interest in companies that measure audiences and analytics.
Following the report, Truist analysts took note of the news and maintained a Buy rating and a $35 price target on the shares.
“Recall CRTOs in the past are reported to have received input from ad agencies (Reuters 2014, Bloomberg 2019) and other strategic and financial acquirers (Bloomberg 2021),” the analysts wrote.
“If CRTO is unable to achieve a fair multiple in a reasonable amount of time (given the leadership team’s strong execution over the past ~3 years), will the Board consider strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value?” they added. “Applying 10x EV/AEBITDA (recent Nielsen LBO, not a perfect offset, but some parallels), to the CRTO 2025 AEBITDA target (per investor day), at a 2-year discount at 10%, would put the price of the shares at >$60”.
