Amobee, a marketing tech platform, has agreed to acquire ad tech company Turn for $310 million. No surprise there. Turn, a data management platform provider (DMP), has been struggling with its focus
in a consolidating ad tech sector for some time. Amobee was formerly a mobile ad startup before its 2012 acquisition by Singtel, where it remains a subsidiary. Singtel and Amobee have made other
acquisitions on the digital ad side, including Gradient X, Adconion, and Kontera. Turn continues to run a DMP and a demand-side platform for ad buyers. The company raised more than $150
milliion in equity funding from investors, including Focus Ventures, Greenspring Associates, Fidelity Investments, and BlackRock.
TechCrunch reports that Turn had planned an IPO a few years ago
but it never happened perhaps due to the volatility for ad tech in the public markets. Turn CEO Bruce Falck said that Turn "will continue to pursue a mission of 'being the global source of truth for
marketers,' with a team of 800 people working with more than 1,000 customers." The acquisition marks the continued march toward consolidation in the ad tech sector: Adobe acquired TubeMogul,
Salesforce bought Krux, and Rubicon Project is working with explore strategic options, including a potential sale, with Morgan Stanley. This week Rubicon Project announced a restructuring. And yet,
The Trade Desk led a successful IPO and AppNexus is throwing its hat into the IPO ring soon.
The Amobee/Turn deal is expected to close in the first half of 2017, subject to regulatory
approval.
Read the whole story at TechCrunch »