By Rory Gallivan
LONDON--Advertising technology company Matomy Media Group Ltd
(MTMY.LN) is buying Austrian mobile advertising specialist MobFox
for $17.6 million.
Matomy said Tuesday that it will pay $10.1 million in cash and
$7.5 million in newly issued shares for MobFox. MobFox shareholders
may also be entitled to an additional payment based on MobFox's
2015 to 2017 financial performance, Matomy said.
The deal comes after French advertising company Publicis Groupe
S.A. (PUB.FR) earlier this month bought a 20% stake in Matomy to
expand its foothold in online marketing.
MobFox-which has offices in Vienna, London, San Francisco and
Paris, and claims to be the largest Europe-based mobile advertising
platform-supplies technology for online trading of video, banner
and other forms of advertising for mobile devices.
Online advertising platforms, including mobile ones, are
exchanges that match publishers that want to sell advertising space
with advertisers that want to buy it. The market is fast-growing as
more advertising dollars shift online.
MobFox's customers include the sportswear company NIKE Inc.
(NKE) and the newspaper publisher New York Times Co. (NYT).
Matomy, which is based in Tel Aviv, but listed in London earlier
this year, operates a technology platform for online advertising
and charges advertisers based on the performance of their adverts,
rather than upfront fees. Clients include the bank HSBC Holdings
PLC (HSBA.LN) and the telecommunications company AT&T Inc.
(T)
Matomy Chief Executive Ofer Druker said MobFox's "business fits
perfectly into our vision, complementing our performance-based
advertising capabilities."
MobFox's founder and Chief Executive Julian Zehetmayr said:
"Companies in the mobile advertising industry constantly talk about
the need for scale and quality in their operations, so partnering
with a company like Matomy that offers both advertisers and
publishers a global multi-channel performance-based advertising
solution makes perfect sense."
-Write to Rory Gallivan at rory.gallivan@wsj.com
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