Alloy Inc., a media company focused on the teen-ager market, will buy 360 Youth, the flagship division of marketing services firm MarketSource Corp.
The New York company will issue 1.8 million shares of Alloy stock and pay $13.4 million in cash and future performance-based amounts to acquire 360 Youth.
360 Youth, Cranbury, NJ, offers media, sampling, promotion, customer acquisition and event programs aimed at 40 million college and high school students nationwide. The 26-year-old company has clients in telecommunications, food and beverage, financial services, entertainment, healthcare and beauty, technology and automotive.
According to Alloy, sponsorship and advertising for 360 Youth are likely to generate $15 million to $17 million in revenue next fiscal year.
The 360 Youth database attracted Alloy, which owns catalogs, Web sites, high school and college newspapers, college guides and campus wallboards.
“The college market, in our opinion, is a very difficult market from a traditional direct marketing perspective,” said Matt Diamond, chairman/CEO of Alloy.
“College students move every year. It's hard to keep track of where they are, and some of the basic fundamentals of database marketing – keeping names fresh within the database – is more of a challenge,” he said. “So in order to reach these kids you have to have assets that complement this, and that's where 360 Youth comes into play.”
