Yahoo! Inc.’s share price down, to acquire analytics start-up Flurry Inc. for more than $300 million

Yahoo! Inc. is to acquire the analytics company Flurry Inc. in an attempt to increase its advertising revenue generated from smartphones. According to people familiar with the companys plans, who asked not to be named because the negotiations are still not public, the price of the deal exceeds 300 million dollars.

The Vice President of advertising technology of Yahoo! Inc. – Mr. Scott Burke commented on the rumours in a Bloomberg interview: “It ties right into Yahoo and mobile first and all of the investments we’re making into mobile today. Flurry is the next logical step to extend our reach. They have a great brand.” As reported by the Financial Times, Mr. Burke also said: “Flurry’s success is the result of years of committed investment by a passionate team to create an indispensable platform for mobile developers.”

None of the financial terms of the acquisition were disclosed by the companies. Still, the takeover is considered one of the biggest purchases made by Yahoo! Inc. under the lead of its current Chief Executive Officer Ms. Marissa Mayer. The companys CEO has recently shifted the companys focus to mobile, considering it a crucial part of her turnaround efforts to catch up with some of the main Yahoos rivals such as Google Inc. and Facebook Inc.

The analytics start-up Flurry is mainly analysing data from smartphone users in order to provide developers with the opportunity to get a better perspective of the preferences of their audiences. Yahoo! Inc. revealed that it intends to use the data collected by Flurry to improve its target on digital advertising when it comes to smartphone users. The company also seeks to expand its reach beyond its own platform.

According to Yahoos Vice President of advertising technology Mr. Burke, Flurry is to continue serving its customers at the time when it collaborates with some of the Yahoos services.

The news of the acquisition comes only a week after Yahoo posted its results for the second financial quarter. The company revealed that its revenue, excluding commissions paid to partners for Web traffic, declined by 3% over the second three months. It also shared that its revenue from display ads fell by about 7%.

Yahoo! Inc. was 0.15% down to close at 33.28 dollars per share yesterday, marking a one-year change of +14.32%. According to the information published on CNN Money, the 25 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for Yahoo! Inc. have a median target of 40.00, with a high estimate of 47.00 and a low estimate of 32.00. The median estimate represents a +20.19% increase from the last price of 33.28.