Google to acquire DoubleClick for $3.1 billion

Web advertising leader Google said on Friday it has agreed to acquire DoubleClick, a top online advertising network, for $3.1 billion, beating out other major Internet players with its bid.

The deal represents the largest acquisition in Google’s history and comes just six months after Google paid $1.65 billion to acquire video-sharing site YouTube. Terms of the deal call for Google to pay cash to DoubleClick investors.

The DoubleClick acquisition promises to fortify Google, the juggernaut of search-based advertising on the Web, as it expands into print, radio, video, mobile and TV ad markets.

DoubleClick, a dot-com stock market star that was the leading independent player in the first generation of online advertising during the 1990s, has been majority-owned by San Francisco private equity firm Hellman & Friedman since 2005.

Hellman & Friedman paid $1.1 billion in stock and debt for its stake. JMI Management is a co-investor in the company.