VoiceStar Acquired by Marchex for $28M

Posted by Sebastien on the 2007/08/09 at 06:25
in Funding & Transactions, Local, Local Search, Marchex, Pay-per-call, Telephony, VoiceStar -

TechCrunch has the news. Highlights:

Marchex total anticipated investment to acquire VoiceStar will be $28 million, consisting of approximately $20 million in transaction consideration and $8 million in company investment. Specifically, transaction consideration consists of approximately $12.9 million in cash consideration and Marchex will issue approximately $7.1 million in restricted stock that is subject to vesting over two-and-one-half years from closing to certain employees of VoiceStar; and company investment consists of $8 million relating to products, infrastructure, human resources and other items through 2008. The acquisition is expected to close by October 1, 2007.

What it means: brilliant acquisition. I am a strong believer in pay-per-call especially in a local context. Big question mark: will Marchex leverage the VoiceStar technology for their network of local web sites (thereby competing directly with directory publishers, who are the biggest customers of VoiceStar) or will they continue to sell VoiceStar as a platform? In any case, congrats to my two friends Ari and Todd who started VoiceStar a few years ago !!!

Update: Peter at Local Onliner has more info about Marchex’s strategy: “We can now also add proprietary pay-per-phone-call advertising units to our network of local Web sites, which allows us to increase the direct monetization of our own properties,” notes Marchex’s Peter Christothoulou, per press release. The release also notes that VoiceStar “increases Marchex’s ability to directly monetize its… network of Web Sites, lessening its dependence on third-parties and increasing….. revenue (via) call-based advertising units.”

4 Responses to “VoiceStar Acquired by Marchex for $28M”

  1. Redeye VC Says:
    August 9th, 2007 at 08:50

    Voicestar acquired by Marchex…

    Congratulations to Ari and Todd on their sale to Marchex (NASDAQ: MCHX). I first met the Voicestar guys back in 2005. They were among the pioneers of the pay-per-call market — and I recall being amazed by how much they…

  2. Colin Carmichael Says:
    August 10th, 2007 at 09:41

    I’d also like to congratulate Ari and the guys. TrueLocal was one of VoiceStar’s early customers - and I won’t soon forget the wonderful wine dinner they hosted at the Kelsey ILM show last year.

    Well done, guys!

  3. Dave Says:
    August 13th, 2007 at 06:13

    Congratulations indeed to Ari on all his hard work and on a nice exit with Marchex. Marchex’s display of commitment to PPCall gives further encouragement other self-funded pay-per-call pioneers such as we at wwww.ZiffLeads.com (launched in 2005) of SPG Solutions.

    We have built from scratch a comprehensive and proprietary pay-per-call ad platform and network, a large direct advertiser base, and a substantial multi-media publisher network.

    With triple-digit quarterly growth, expected revenue this year of well over 3X that of VoiceStar’s and the turning of a significant profit, our excitement for the PPCall opportunity only continues to grow.

  4. sarah Says:
    September 14th, 2007 at 07:12

    SPG is like Keen.com: mostly psychic hotlines

    SPG makes its money mostly on psychics as opposed to real newspapers, yellow pages and ad agencies

    http://www.accuratepsychicadvice.com/privacy.html

    http://www.ladyathena.com/Click4Advisor.htm

    Unfortunately, psychic hotlines aren’t too bankable. Good luck, though!

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