Tribal Fusion Owner Exponential Going IPO; Nielsen's 'Cross-Platform Campaign Ratings'

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Exponential Sees $176 Mil In 2011 Revs

It’s the next phase of the ad network model. Exponential Interactive, owners of Tribal Fusion – Firefly Video and Adotube – have moved into the IPO phase as the company as it looks to raise funds in the public markets and provide liquidity for existing investors. The company announced that it had filed its S-1 registration statement on Friday. Read the release. According to the S-1, the company will sell $75 million of stock and is billing its solution as the “Exponential Advertising Intelligence Platform.” An excerpt from the S-1: “For 2011, 66.9% of our revenues were generated from advertisers located in the United States and 33.1% from international advertisers. We derive revenues from a broad base of advertisers, with 85.4% of 2011 revenues derived from recurring advertisers. (…) In 2009, our revenues were adversely impacted by global macroeconomic conditions. However, we maintained profitability primarily as a result of our business model, which typically involves our paying digital media content providers a percentage of revenues, as well as our cost control initiatives. Since 2009, our revenues have grown at a compound annual growth rate, or CAGR, of 35.2% to $169.1 million in 2011, our Adjusted EBITDA has grown at a CAGR of 31.3% to $22.0 million in 2011 and our net income has grown at a CAGR of 51.2% to $6.9 million in 2011.”

Interesting to note that the acquisition of AdoTube in September came to approximately $20 million inclusive of projected earn outs. Revenues for AdoTube were $6.1 million (with a $1.2 million loss in 2011) – roughly acquired for a 3x multiple. Though Exponential’s 2011 revenue increased significantly in 2011 compared to 2010, so did personnel costs. To provide some context, 2011 revenues were slightly higher than interclick’s according to interclick’s projections for 2011 which as acquired by Yahoo! in Novemeber 2011. Read the S-1 for all the digital ad details. CEO Dilip DeSilva owns a healthy 74.9% chunk of Exponential currently. Shares have yet to be priced.

Cross-Channel Ratings

The New York Times’ Brian Stetler reports that Nielsen is ready to release its system to measure online and TV. “The new system, given the name ‘cross-platform campaign ratings,’ will combine Nielsen’s existing television ratings, which measure the reach and frequency of ads on TV, with Nielsen’s new online campaign ratings, which apply the same measurements to the Web.” Read more.

Ad Tech Getting Hotter?

Baltimore Business Journal reports that mobile ad network Millennial Media will raise another $50 million for a total of $129 million. The IPO space is getting hotter – albeit we’re not talking about ’99-’00 bubble numbers here. Read more. And, read this – the amended, informative S-1.

Salesforce Targets HR, Media Next?

All Things D’s Arik Hesseldahl says Salesforce’s expansion into the HR world through Rypple (acquired in December) is taking effect as its stated goal of finding a “fundamentally better way to recruit, manage and empower employees in a social world.” Hesseldahl writes, “CEO Marc Benioff showed off how the Rypple acquisition is being integrated directly into Salesforce’s main service as an add-on app in the company’s App Exchange. He’s something to see in action, and manages to bring together numerous strands as a way of making his arguments for the cloud and the social enterprise.” Read more. Could a media/ad tech component come next?

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Cut Out The Tag; Of Paramount Value

As promised in November, Microsoft and Nine Entertainment Co. have undertaken a joint venture in Australia called Mi9 which signifies a “coming together of a portfolio of digital investments spanning; publishing, data, consumer insights, advertising technologies and online products,” according to the companies. There are four different parts to the venture including Mi9 Media, which will be led by former Starcom agency exec Matt James. Mi9 Media will comprise products such as Microsoft Media Network and Microsoft Advertising Exchange. Read the release. And, see the site.

Telcos And Ads

On TechCrunch, ad tech investor Rich Lefurgy (LinkedIn) reviews the significance of the SingTel acquisition of mobile ad company Amobee and sees a telco trend. He writes, “The big question is: Can telcos add the advertising expertise to create a great value proposition for both brands and consumers that makes them both happy? It’s a $22 billion question — or roughly, the estimated market size of combining deals, geofence mobile marketing and location-based services.” Read more.

Apple Cash

Apple will let the world know today at 6 a.m. PT what it’s going to do with that $90 billion in cash. The New York Times’ Nick Wingfield covers Apple’s rare Sunday news announcement yesterday saying that though a decision on the cash was imminent it’s not so simple, “While Apple ended last year with a cash balance of $97.6 billion, it cannot easily gain access to most of that for a dividend because roughly 66 percent of the money is held by its foreign subsidiaries. To bring that cash back to the United States, Apple would have to pay hefty repatriation taxes, very likely more than 30 percent.” Read more.

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