Alloy Online Inc. said yesterday that it bought CASS Communications for $9.7 million in cash.
Under the agreement, which is expected to be finalized in August, Alloy also issued 1.7 million shares of stock.
CASS, Chicago, is a provider of integrated advertising and marketing services that link national advertisers with the college and high school markets. The company, founded in 1968, reaches more than 6.5 million students on college and high school campuses through wall boards and outdoor displays and an additional 21 million through campus newspapers.
Earlier this year, Alloy acquired Boston's Triple Dot Communications and its Y-Access research arm. The acquisition gave the company access to Triple Dot's advertiser client base.
“We've been developing our media presence through our catalogs, online and database and have been putting together, under one umbrella, numerous contact points into [our] demographic,” said Sam Gradess, Alloy's chief financial officer. “CASS adds a very important contact point through the newspaper and wall boards. We hope and expect that we can leverage their relationships with a number of their advertisers and potentially cross-sell additional advertising services through other Alloy [divisions].”
CASS' clients include automotive, wireless, electronic-games and entertainment companies marketing their products or services to teens and young adults.
