Ad tech firm Turn acquired by Singapore telco Singtel for $310 million

pulse

February 23, 2017 7:53 AM

Turn had raised $163.5 million in equity and debt financing.

Kim Perell, the CEO of Singtel's ad tech division Amobee.

Ad tech company Turn has been acquired by Amobee, the ad tech division of Singapore-based telco Singtel, for $310 million.

Turn offers a demand-side platform (DSP), a data management platform, and an analytics platform — automated systems that help advertisers plan, buy, and measure their online ad campaigns.

It competes with DSPs such as Google DoubleClick Bid Manager, AppNexus, The Trade Desk, Rocket Fuel, MediaMath, AdForm, and DataXu.

Turn had raised $163.5 million in equity and debt financing, according to CrunchBase.

Turn went through a big transition in 2015 after a period of trying to move to a software as a service (SaaS) revenue model that only serviced brands, not agencies. That didn't work out so well and the company brought on a new CEO, Bruce Falck, the former COO of Yahoo's BrightRoll, to help it pivot back.

Last year, Business Insider estimated Turn was generating net revenue of between $100 million to $150 million.

The acquisition provides an extra layer to Singtel's ad tech stack. It acquired mobile ads firm Amobee in 2012 and for $321 million. In 2014 Amobee bought competitors Adconion for $235 million and Kontera for $150 million to help expand its technology and client footprint.

Singtel is Singapore's largest carrier in Singapore and has a subscriber based of more than 600 million across 22 countries in Asia, Australia, and Africa. Acquiring Turn will help boost its ad tech capabilities beyond mobile-only and increase its advertiser customer base across North America and Europe.

Amobee CEO Kim Perell, said in statement, "This acquisition makes Amobee one of the largest independent buy-side marketing technology providers globally, boosts our data analytics capabilities and understanding of consumers, and provides a strong foundation for our future growth. Effectively powering advertisers’ digital marketing is about enabling them to better understand and reach their customers, and enhance the way they engage them, on a global scale. To differentiate and capitalize on the growing market opportunity, we will offer world-class technology paired with advanced data and insights.”

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2017.

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