AOL will shell out $405 million for Adap.tv, as we reported this morning. That’s a lot of scratch for an ad-tech company – or any company, for that matter.
While M&A comparisons are only useful up to a point, it might be instructive to consider the video-ad platform in light of other few recent deals of note.
Based on the agreed purchase price (and Tim Armstrong and his board’s internal calculus), Adap.tv is worth…
- About a third more than a HuffingtonPost ($315 million), the other major acquisition of Armstrong’s tenure;
- Almost two Washington Posts ($250 million), apple of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ eye. And more than six Boston Globes ($70 million), per terms of the sale to Red Sox owner John Henry;
- Almost exactly the value of an AdMeld ($400 million), Google’s core programmatic offering to the sell side. That deal closed less than two years ago.
- Thirty-seven percent of a Tumblr ($1.1 billion), Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s signature acquisition.
- More than half (57%) of an Instagram ($715 million), which has yet to earn a dime.
- One measly sixth of an ExactTarget ($2.5 billion), which gave Salesforce an entry point into email campaign management and marketing automation.
