Blinkx pays £18m for Burst Media

The online video search group Blinkx has sealed a $30m (£18.5m) deal to buy Burst Media, a network that packages advertising for websites.

The deal, announced yesterday, is part of a plan to widen Blinkx's advertising reach by expanding the company's exposure to publishing sites. Blinkx, which was spun off from the technology group Autonomy, indexes 35 million hours of video content.

Alan Howard, an analyst at Cannacord Genuity, said it was a "sensible strategic move by Blinkx, which will significantly broaden its reach in both the US and UK markets".

Blinkx will be able to embed its online video search in Burst's network of 5,000 premium publish sites, which have an audience of about 140 million in the US and the UK. The combined platform will benefit from the rapid growth of online video advertising, Mr Howard said.

The cash and shares offer will see Blinkx pay less than $5m in cash for the group. The 25.08p per share is a premium of more than 400 per cent on its previous closing price. Blinkx reported that full-year revenues should be more than $65m, an increase of more than 90 per cent on last year.