After several attempts at a flotation in New York, it seems that Israeli app monetization company IronSource is now on the right track to becoming a listed company on Wall Street.
According to a report by Bloomberg, SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) Thoma Bravo Advantage will attempt to raise $1 billion and, if it succeeds and the negotiations with the company are finalized, IronSource will be merged into it at a valuation of $10 billion, according to sources familiar with the matter.
IronSource is in the adtech field, and has three main lines of business: digital, mobile, and enterprise. The company was founded in 2011 by Tomer Bar-Zeev and brothers Roi, Eyal and Itay Milrad, who until 2019 held nearly 45% of the shares. Other shareholders are Viola Ventures, Tal Barnoach's Disruptive Technologies Venture Capital , 83North, Saban Ventures, Leumi Partners, and Clal Industries. In 2019, private equity fund CVC Capital Partners bought about a quarter of the shares in IronSource for $400 million in a secondary deal in which the company itself did not raise money.
Over the years, IronSource has raised $120 million. It has a positive operating cash flow and in the past few years it has distributed dividends to its shareholders amounting to over $200 million.
IronSource has sought an exit for a long time, whether in negotiations with potential acquirers or through the IPO it announced in 2014. The sale of the stake to CVC came after the company conducted talks with the Primavera fund in 2017 and reportedly held talks on a sale to various Chinese funds in 2016. The company's valuation in these negotiations was estimated at $1.5-1.8 billion. This time too, it could be that the move will not be completed, as the sides are still in negotiations.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 15, 2021
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