Ad tech mergers and acquisitions (M&A) has been a roller coaster in recent years, and 2016 certainly didn’t let up. In 2015, public and private marketplace sentiment cooled, but 2016 saw a resurgence – albeit a much more cautious one than in years past. “Good businesses in ad tech will find owners,” said Tolman Geffs, […]
Western ad tech companies looking for an exit only have a handful of choices. They can IPO like The Trade Desk (not likely), get acquired like Yahoo (slightly more likely), sell to private equity like Marketo or Mediaocean (only an interim solution) or, as is now becoming the trend, find a Chinese consortium with an […]
Private equity firm Vector Capital has agreed to acquire ad tech company Sizmek. “Vector will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Sizmek common stock for $3.90 per share in an all-cash tender offer,” according to a release, which values the company at $122 million. Notably, Sizmek’s market cap, just prior to the acquisition announcement, […]
It’s a tale of the haves and the have-nots. Deal values for mar tech are exploding, according to M&A activity surveys from Jordan Edmiston Group (JEGI) and Petsky Prunier, highlighting the first half of 2016. By contrast, ad tech, despite heavy consolidation speculation, is still in a slump. JEGI noted $13.3 billion in deal value […]
If 2014 was a year of big buys in ad tech, 2015 seemed more muted. While 2014 saw a run on attribution companies from big players like Google and AOL, massive consolidation among data management platforms and some big splashes from Oracle and Alliance Data Services, 2015 was about the quiet private equity exit. Sure, […]
Judging from last week’s news, it’s tempting to say GroupM has got the programmatic religion. But that might be selling the holding company short. WPP Group’s media-buying arm, which controls $106 billion in global ad spending, last week promoted Xaxis CEO Brian Lesser to a big new job running its North America business. His elevation […]
AOL’s acquisition of Millennial Media for $238 million was a coup for its purchaser, if not for its investors. The mobile ad platform went from an opening-day share price of $23.50 to $1.75 when AOL announced its intent to purchase Thursday. But Elgin Thompson, managing director at investment firm Digital Capital Advisors, cautioned not to […]
The volume and scope of ad tech/marketing tech M&A activity in 2015 shows investors want in on marketing stacks with scalable infrastructure that can support programmatic growth and increased automation of marketing functions, says a duo of investment firms. Such were the findings in reports from The Jordan, Edmiston Group (JEGI) and Petsky Prunier. The […]
M&A activity in marketing services and tech declined in Q1 2015, compared to the same period last year, in volume and value. Investment bank Jordan, Edmiston Group Inc. (JEGI), which released its Q1 2015 M&A Overview on Thursday, noted 128 deals in Q1 2015, compared to 154 in Q1 2014 (a 17% decline). Value of […]
Video platform M&A exploded in 2014, particularly in the second half of the year, according to data from Coady Diemar Partners. A report from the boutique investment banking firm highlights substantial growth in the ad tech sector, led by demand for technology assisting in the convergence of TV and digital video. Four of the top 11 […]
The ad tech industry isn’t going anywhere, but 2014 exhibited some of the financial shakiness that dogged public ad tech stocks through much of 2013, especially for companies that went public in the last 12 to 15 months. “The only slight surprise for me and many others [in 2014] was the sudden switch in sentiment […]
Marketing M&A deal activity increased 22% year over year, marking one of the highest volume quarters on record, according to new data from mid-market investment bank Berkery Noyes. On a quarterly basis, media and marketing transaction volume increased by 3% from 423 to 434 deals; average deal size also climbed, increasing from $25.1 billion to […]
It’s been a busy third quarter on the mergers and acquisitions front. Yahoo has been the most active acquirer of online and mobile companies in 2013, closing seven deals in the third quarter alone. A vast majority of its recent deals were in the mobile and social space, including AdMovate, Hitpost and Rockmelt. Other notable […]
There were 34 “ad tech & services” deals during the first six months of 2013, double the amount during the same period the year before, according to figures complied by technology focused investment bank Coady Diemar Partners. Total value for H1-2013 M&A activity was up 664% with a collective $1.2 billion spent on acquisitions and […]
After stints running TV media sales software INVISION and heading corporate development for ad exchange operator AppNexus, former AOL executive Lynda Clarizio is joining investment bank Berenson & Co. to help expand its digital media dealmaking portfolio. Read the release. The post puts Clarizio on the other side of the M&A table from her early […]
The first quarter of 2013 was marked by some notable acquisitions—Google acquired Channel Intelligence; Twitter snapped up Bluefin Labs and Facebook agreed to buy Microsoft’s Atlas DMT. Merger and acquisition activities for marketing and other sectors have generally cooled down, however, according to a new report from The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. (JEGI), an investment bank […]
Sapient is a company with many faces, and revenue sources. About 70% of its business comes from the SapientNitro digital agency. Another 25% derives from Sapient Global Markets, which serves the capital and commodity market needs of clients in the financial and energy sectors. And 5% is in government services, where it has done work […]
Terence Kawaja, founder and CEO at LUMA Partners, has surveyed the past few week’s notable deals — demand side platforms MediaMath’s acquisition of Akamai’s Advertising Decision Solutions (ADS) unit (which his firm helped broker); exchange platform AppNexus’ $75 million venture capital funding; and the shuttering of adBrite’s exchange business. And he sees the clear formation […]
Most media industry observers expect to see a another strong year in M&A for the Ad Tech sector. For example, a survey [PDF] of 231 top media/tech executives released last week from media investment bank Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. and Econsultancy shows an upward trend in organizations planning an acquisition in the next 12 months, […]
“Data Driven Thinking” is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media. Today’s column is written by Jessica Luterman Naeve, Managing Director at DeSilva & Phillips Media Investment Bankers. 2012 was a big year for social media – big multiples and headline deals – a testament […]
“Data Driven Thinking” is written by members of the media community and containing fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media. Today’s column is written by Cameron Hulett, who is Executive Head of Solution Strategy at Acceleration. When someone is betting millions, they’ve typically done their homework. So when you see the current M&A activity in […]
It’s been over a year since ad verification company AdSafe Media brought former Aperture executive Scott Knoll to run the company. In that time, Knoll has tried to emphasize the company’s focus more on anticipating problems for ad placement, rather than reporting back on whether a campaign was successful or not. In the meantime, the […]
M&A activity in the media and marketing sectors jumped 52 percent in the first half of the year, led by “smaller, complimentary acquisitions.” So says investment banker Jordan Edmiston Group Inc., which tracks deal activity in the space. Among the high-profile acquisitions were those of social CRM platforms Vitrue and Buddy Media, by Oracle and […]
