Local Internet Company Acquired for $12.5 Million

A based in San Juan Capistrano will relocate to Irvine under a $12.5-million acquisition announced Monday morning by Business Wire.

Screamin Daily Deals is now a subsidiary of Local.com, which acquired the local company for $12.5 million in cash, stock and debt.

Screamin Daily Deals was founded in early 2010 with help from a local man, Benson Kane. It is riding the wave of success found in offering online deals, a business model made successful by companies such as Groupon. Benson added a philanthropic element by allowing consumers to donate 10 percent of Screamin Deaily Deals' net proceeds from each deal to a local school, public or private, or to a local nonprofit.

According to Business Wire, it generated unaudited revenues of about $2.4 million in 2010 and $4.4 million during the first half of 2011. It has approximately 60 employees and serves "hundreds of thousands of subscribers" in 14 markets, including Orange County and Los Angeles.

Under the deal with Local.com, Screamin Daily Deals shareholders will have the opportunity to earn up to an additional $20 million if certain financial performance criteria are met in a two-year period following the closing.

Local.com's social buying business, Spreebird, "will absorb [Screamin Daily Deal]'s operations ... [and] SDD's three co-founders will become Spreebird's vice presidents of sales and marketing, product and operations, respectively," Business Wire reports.

Screamin Daily Deals was not immediately available to comment on this story, but Kane told Business Wire that "Local.com's existing commitment to local communities is consistent with our vision for school rewards."

He went on to say: "Local.com has a considerable array of assets that we believe we can leverage, including reach of over 20 million consumers each month through its flagship property plus a distribution network of over 1,400 regional media sites. We are very pleased to be joining forces with Local.com to deliver daily deals to an even broader audience of consumers, thereby expanding our ability to engage and serve even more local communities nationwide."