Infospace shares up 20 pct on takeover talk
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of InfoSpace Inc. (INSP.O) rose as much as 20 percent on Tuesday after a report that the Internet search result aggregator could be bought for $1.08 billion (800 million euros).
The shares were up $4.20 at $24.79 on Nasdaq after Spanish newspaper Negocio reported that privately held Spanish mobile- phone content provider LaNetro Zed was working out the final details of a plan to buy InfoSpace for 800 million euro.
"I think it's a pretty aggressive valuation" said Stanford Group analyst Clayton Moran, who has a "sell" rating on InfoSpace and a $15 price target on its stock due to growth concerns. "It's a slow- to no-growth story with significant competitive pressures," Moran said.
Stacy Ybarra, a spokeswoman for InfoSpace said it was the company's policy not to comment on rumors and speculation.
InfoSpace aggregates results from search engines such as Google Inc. (GOOG.O) and Yahoo Inc. (YHOO.O) and competes with these companies on some search services mostly for the U.S. market. It also provides services for mobile phone Web users.
Based on a 33 million share count the reported price would represent a $32.70 per share sale price, an almost 60 percent premium to InfoSpace's Friday closing price.
"I'm surprised about the price, not that somebody would have potentially made an offer," said Wedbush Morgan analyst Scott Sutherland. "The most interesting thing (for an overseas company) is getting some access to the U.S. market."
Earlier this year, LaNetro Zed took a 52 percent stake in UK mobile phone ringtone specialist Monstermob Group MOB.L.
