SingTel unit Amobee acquires Kontera for $150m

deal  merger  picture: photo to go
deal merger picture: photo to go

Kontera provides an ad platform for websites that hyperlinks words to external content.

SingTel's Israeli digital advertising unit Amobee Technologies Ltd. has acquired Israeli digital content intelligence and marketing solutions developer Kontera Ltd. for $150 million and two units of cross channel digital advertising companyAdconian Media Group Ltd. Adconion Direct North America and Adconion Australia for $235 million (or $209 million net of debt). Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel) (SGX: Z74, ASX: SGT; Pink Sheets: SGAPY) acquired Amobee for $340 million in early 2012.

Amobee said that the acquisitions will strengthen its position as the leading provider of mobile-led digital marketing technology and solutions across all channels and screens for global brands. The combined capabilities will better position the company to capitalize on the fast growing global digital advertising market.

Kontera's investors include Sequoia Capital, Carmel Ventures, and Tenaya Capital. "Globes" named the company as one of Israel's most promising start-ups in 2009. It was founded in 2000 by CEO Yoav Shaham and COO Assaf Henkin. The company is based in San Francisco and has its development center in Herzliya Pituach. Kontera provides an advertisement platform for websites that hyperlinks words to external content.

Functionally, Kontera's solutions resembles Google's text-based advertising mechanism, AdSense, except that AdSense appears on the side of a webpage, while Kontera's product appears within the text itself.

"We are excited to join forces with Adconion and Kontera, two companies that have led the industry with innovative marketing solutions and cutting edge technology to achieve outstanding returns for Fortune 500 companies," said Amobee CEO Mark Strecker. "Amobee offers the most advanced mobile advertising technology and solutions to large advertisers and publishers on a global scale. The digital advertising business is about scale and capitalizing on the market opportunities with technology as a core differentiator. With these two acquisitions announced today, we have extended our product offerings, increased our sales footprint and reinforced Amobee's leadership position in the fast growing digital advertising market."

"Data has become the essential ingredient to successfully reach the right customers with the right message at the right time," said Shaham. "Being a part of Amobee, we can more fully leverage our real-time content analysis platform across the entire digital ecosystem, enabling CMOs to measure and evaluate the success of their brand in ways never possible before."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 11, 2014

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2014

deal  merger  picture: photo to go
deal merger picture: photo to go
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