QuinStreet buys CarInsurance.com for $49.7M

Online marketing company QuinStreet says this is its last big insurance domain name purchase

Online marketing company QuinStreet announced Monday that it is paying $49.7 million for CarInsurance.com, a consumer website for shopping around auto insurance. This is QuinStreet’s third and (they say) last acquisition of prominent site domain names.

A little over a year ago, the company paid $16 million for Insure.com, and this past July, it paid an unknown amount (probably at least $16 million but I’d wager it was closer to today’s $49.7 million) for Insurance.com.

"Insurance is a strong and growing vertical for QuinStreet, and we are excited to add such a premier online media property to our business,” explains Doug Valenti, QuinStreet CEO. “This acquisition completes our near-term program to identify and acquire the best of the largest independent online organic media properties in the Insurance vertical. Our efforts now turn primarily to building these properties to provide exceptional consumer information and experiences, and to delivering great measured marketing results for our clients."

CarInsurance.com is a marketplace for finding and comparing different insurance policies, which users can purchase directly through the site. On the main page, one merely types in his or her zip code, and CarInsurance.com returns a list of leading insurance providers, like AARP, CIG and Geico. Stocked with informative articles, a coverage calculator, a glossary of terms and more, the site is a well-rounded resource for researching car insurance options.

QuinStreet does not say how the site will change, if at all.

The Foster City, Calif.-based buyer in this deal was founded in 1999, achieved profitability in 2002 and went public in February of this year. The initial public offering managed to raise $140 million in its first day, a sharp drop from the company’s projections from a month earlier to raise at least $250 million.

The company was not immediately available for comment.