Gravity4 makes another surprise bid to buy ad tech company Rocket Fuel
Ad tech firm Gravity4 has made a second audacious takeover bid to acquire its rival Rocket Fuel.
The one year-old ad tech firm founded by the former RadiumOne CEO Gurbaksh Chahal, has made an offer of around $260m for the company.
The latest bid is almost $100m less than the previous takeover bid which was rejected by Rocket Fuel's interim chief executive officer Monte Zweben in May because it did not” constitute a credible offer”.
The San Francisco based company’s bid was confirmed by a post on Chahal’s Facebook account which read “second time’s a charm” and linked to a story on the proposed takeover. Gavity4 is understood to be interested in Rocket Fuel’s marketing cloud and “integrated stack”
Industry insiders appear doubtful on the potential success of the latest attempt given that Rocket Fuel’s current market cap is almost the same as the bid, meaning investors have little incentive to accept it. However Rocket Fuel recently reported a loss of $23.7 million in Q2 and saw its stock hit a 52-week low on Monday. The bid itself could have a major impact on given that the previous bid back in May resulted in Rocket Fuel’s stock accelerating so fast that trading was halted.
The bid follows a turbulent few months for Chahal and Gravity4 following a bid for Sweden-based, publicly listed ad tech company TradeDouble, having to be rescinded because it was in breach of Swedish takeover regulations. Last April Chahal was forced to depart the previous ad tech company he founded, RadiumOne, after pleading guilty to misdemeanor domestic violence charges- although he maintains his innocence.