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Terry Kawaja has pitched a revive/survive/thrive framework as a way of thinking about advertising M&A in 2023, 2024, and 2025. We’ve seen that bear fruit this year with acquisitions including Scope3/Adloox, Viant/Iris, Outbrain/Teads, Zeta/LiveIntent, Sharethrough/Equativ and Seedtag/Beachfront, to name a few. Azerion has made a bunch of acquisitions including, most recently, Goldbach, a top agency in Central Europe, subject to reg approval. The flurry of acquisition coheres with Terry’s thesis. It also points to the need for consolidation in adtech. You need scale or you can’t survive. Agencies want to deal with fewer partners, and adtech companies can drive mass efficiencies by consolidating. The message to adtech companies is eat or be eaten.

A round of applause for a phenomenal acquisition by Outbrain: rising up against the odds, it's acquired Teads for a billion dollars. 👏 Some years ago most of us would’ve bet on the opposite: Outbrain was advertising’s underdog and Teads was the most likely player to go on a shopping spree. 🛍️ Overcoming a failed merger with Taboola and recent struggles in the public market, Outbrain has pulled together the financing for a move that’ll hugely expand their horizons. As mentioned before, this is part of a larger wave of consolidation in the market – though this is the most significant deal of 2024 so far. #acquisition #digitaladvertising #digitalmarketing #Outbrain #Teads

I'm super proud of two of my best friends, whom I've known nearly all my life and who also happened to be my best men at my wedding. I was there when they started WebMechanix... I still remember Arsham Mirshah telling me, while he was renting a room in my house, that he was going to start an internet marketing company with Chris M. This was nearly 15 years ago. Chris was also living in the city, but they didn't want any distractions, so they decided to move to the suburbs to stay focused and work hard on their company. At the time, we were still in our early to mid-20s, the party time of our lives. Of course, I was disappointed and told him he could do both, but in my heart, I knew they were right to move and was excited for their journey. Their goals were very modest when they started. I'll let Chris and Arsham share them with you, but all I can say is they achieved 100x what their original goal was because they kept moving the goal post. Over the years, I saw them set goals and crush goals. They worked out of their house for several years, and I remember it was always fun to visit and see them and their employees doing great work for their clients. Eventually, they grew large enough to rent a small office space, and from there, they just kept growing. Here are some takeaways from watching their growth from the start to this next chapter of their lives: 1. Set goals and crush goals. 2. Stay focused on what you do best and what you love doing. 3. Always care about your employees and customers. 4. It's inevitable you'll hit a ceiling, but one day you'll power past it. 5. Integrity is key to long-term success. 6. It's about the journey, not just the destination. 7. Communicate, communicate, communicate. 8. Hustling doesn't mean burnout; it means working smart and hard. 9. Continue to give back to the community your knowledge and wisdom. It's important to remember there's no such thing as overnight success; it requires hard work. You'll have doubts from time to time, and sometimes you may not have a clear path forward, but the more time you put into it, the more opportunities will arise, and eventually, your sails will catch the wind. In the last few years, they caught that wind and have been riding high ever since. This is such a wonderful outcome for the two of them, but it's also fantastic for their employees, who now have even greater opportunities. It's called a company for a reason; it's not just two people, but a team working together to make something great happen. Cheers to you and the entire WebMechanix team!!!

There is a lot of questions on where things stand with our merger with Teads. Short answer is…that things are very much on track. We still believe that “With the merger of Outbrain and Teads, we have an incredible opportunity to redefine how brands connect with consumers. This partnership enables us to create an end-to-end platform that delivers unmatched value in the advertising ecosystem”. As noted by our CEO, David Kostman, the future looks bright. We look forward to sharing more over the coming months Read more important information here: https://outbra.in/4ctTBFL #NasdaqListed Nasdaq

Exciting News! Teads and Outbrain are merging to form a digital advertising powerhouse. Together, they’ll bring even more creativity and innovation to the industry, delivering top-notch content and exceptional ad experiences. Stay tuned for more updates as these two join forces to shape the future of digital advertising! 🚀🌟 #TeadsOutbrainMerger https://lnkd.in/gxW_wDvy

An acquisition often results in a shift in positioning for both the newly acquired product and the acquiring company. Lately, I've worked with a number of companies on post-acquisition positioning. In the newsletter this week, I'm doing a deep dive into how you might think about your go-to-market strategy and the positioning shifts you might make after an acquisition. Specifically, I'm covering five scenarios: - When the acquired product becomes a "feature" of a parent company product - When the acquired product is positioned as an up-sell or cross-sell to a parent company product - When the acquired product is positioned as standalone and equal to other products the company sells - When the product is positioned as part of a "suite" of products - When the product is positioned as part of a "platform." Behold some graphics I created to go with this article 🙂 Link to the full guide in the comments. Let me know what you think!

Hey Publishers and Advertisers, as you know we are always up-to-date with any developments happening in the Advertising Industry, so here goes some latest news you need to be aware of! 👀   Yesterday the Industry witnessed a mayor merger: that of Teads & Outbrain. 🤝 2 of our partners at Refinery89 It's not the first time we see an ad-tech merger, but this one is likely one of the largest in deal value: $1B (yes, you´ve read right. That is 9 zero´s!).    This merger's outcome will benefit advertisers as the 2 players will become end-to-end advertising platform for the open internet. From a publisher's perspective the prospect of this merger is also exciting as by combining the demand sources of both Teads and Outbrain, #Publishers will potentially experience an increase in demand 🔝   #ForPublishersByPublishers #AdvertisingNews #Teads #Outbrain #R89Partners

The resurgence of investor interest in ad tech signals a potential transformation in the industry, with early-stage investments gaining traction and expectations of significant mergers and acquisitions in late 2024. The surge in interest is driven by the necessity for innovation, spurred by changing consumer trends and regulatory shifts, especially within the AI and CTV sectors. Ad tech requires investment to enhance its capabilities and address challenges by market dynamics. The recent $22.5 million funding round for Vibe and the seed investment in Bedrock highlight the industry's focus on innovation amid the impending disruption of traditional ad tech tools. Anticipation of increased M&A activity suggests potential consolidation and strategic partnerships driven by private equity firms. This renewed investment interest could lead to advancements in advertising technology, fostering innovation and competition. As companies seek to address evolving consumer preferences and regulatory changes, these developments are crucial for driving market growth and enhancing industry competitiveness. #AdTech #Investments #Innovation #MarketGrowth #Competitiveness

Ad tech M&A is on fire, and Broadsheet Communications is right in the thick of it! 🚀 We specialize in strategic communications around funding, growth, and acquisitions, and our clients have been leading the charge in this year’s whirlwind of activity. Here are just a few of our clients’ big moves: ✨ Client Mediaocean acquired Innovid ✨ Seedtag acquired Beachfront – both Broadsheet clients ✨ Madhive acquired our client Frequence ✨ Client Vistar Media acquired Adstruc ✨ Client Experian acquired Audigent Mediaocean’s CEO Bill Wise shared insights with Lucinda Southern at ADWEEK about its $500M acquisition of Innovid, a deal poised to give advertisers more control and challenge Google’s ad tech dominance. The ad tech world is roaring back, and we couldn’t be prouder to support these groundbreaking moves. Here’s to even more game-changing moments in 2025! 🥂 #AdTech #StrategicCommunications #BroadsheetCommunications