Hearst Corp. will acquire iCrossing, a web marketing services firm, for $325 million.

The deal will have yet another traditional media company spending to better establish a foothold in the online marketing space.

The deal had been rumored for weeks. The Oak Investment Partners-backed iCrossing reportedly put itself on the block in late 2009 to find a suitor.

 

Wilma Jordan, chief executive of investment bank Jordan Edmiston Group (JEGI), tells Mergers & Acquisitions that this deal reflects efforts by traditional media companies to build a presence the Web marketing space. She sees deals like this becoming more common.

JEGI acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Hearst in the deal.

Jordan called the 2005 deal in which Gannett acquired e-marketer PointRoll a “foundation for Gannett to build marketing services,” calling M&A of that nature “the convergence of content and services.”

Much of the dealmaking in the traditional media space has been of the distressed nature; when the Washington Post Co. put its Newsweek magazine asset on the block, only three bidders ultimately emerged: Newsmax, founded by Christopher Ruddy, a former reporter; OpenGate Capital, the private equity firm that acquired TV Guide at a deep discount and hedge fund manager Thane Ritchie.

Earlier this year, DealFlow Media, the small West Coast financial services reporting outlet, acquired Doubledown Media assets Trader Monthly, Corporate Leader and Dealmaker publications.

Also, Sandow Media recently acquired a number of B2B publications from Reed Business Information, which has been on a divestiture spree in perhaps the most unfriendly of markets.

Technology