Criteo S.A. (CRTO) initiates a new sale process - Reuters

According to Reuters on Tuesday, Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ: CRTO) is making a new attempt to sell itself after previous conversations with possible buyers were unsuccessful.

The Paris-based advertising technology provider initiated a sale process last week, according to Reuters sources, with investment bank Evercore Inc advising on the process.

Criteo, an advertising business that provides online display advertisements, saw its shares jump over 8% on the back of today's report.

In 2021, it was reported by Bloomberg that Criteo was assessing takeover interest from potential buyers. Reuters stated that it's not clear what prompted the new deal talks, but the company has been trying to reassure shareholders it can beat the current headwinds after Apple and Google moved to tighten privacy standards on their mobile devices.

It is said that the sale process for Criteo will attract the interest of buyout firms that have previously shown interest in companies that measure audience and analytics.

Following the report, Truist analyst Matthew Hornton noted the news, maintaining a Buy rating and $35 price target on the stock.

"Recall CRTO in the past is reported to have received inbound from ad agencies (Reuters 2014, Bloomberg 2019) and other strategic and financial acquirors (Bloomberg 2021)," wrote Thornton.

"If CRTO cannot garner a fair multiple in a reasonable timeframe (given leadership team's solid execution over the past ~3 years), will the Board consider strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value?" he adds. "Applying 10x EV/AEBITDA (recent Nielsen LBO, not perfect comp, but some parallels), to CRTO 2025 target AEBITDA (per Investor Day), discounted back 2 years at 10%, would put share price at >$60."

By Sam Boughedda

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