Baltimore Business Journal: Behind the deal: How Advertising.com lured AOL bid

A hometown business paper tracked the twists and turns of the Advertising.com IPO that was cancelled in favor of an acquisition offer from AOL. The AOL interest turned from investment to acquisition in April, with negotiations leading to an offer in late May. The key to the deal, leading to Advertising.com's founders to cancel the IPO plans, was the inclusion of language that would allow Advertising.com stay a standalone business.

Meanwhile, the Advertising.com executives kept up the pressure by launching their investor road show and starting responses to a second round of SEC comments on their IPO filings. That dual strategy of pursuing both options at once put the fire under AOL to make an offer quickly and make a good one. The final deal was reached at 4 a.m. on June 24. It was announced just hours later.

Advertising.com plans to add 20 to 30 positions in the near future, quickly ramping up its executional abilities. It needs to start eating up inventory on AOL's enormous portal, incorporating its 140 million visitors into the pay-per-click offerings. "I think we've just signed up for more work, but that's a positive," co-founder Scott Ferber said. "We've got to go operate and kick ass."