SUNNYVALE, Calif. & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and BrightRoll, Inc. today announced a definitive agreement for Yahoo to acquire BrightRoll, a leading programmatic video advertising platform. The transaction will combine Yahoo’s premium desktop and mobile video advertising inventory with BrightRoll’s programmatic video platform and publisher relationships to bring substantial value to advertisers on both platforms. BrightRoll is a large, growing and profitable business with net revenues expected to exceed $100 million this year. Yahoo expects the transaction to enhance its EBITDA.
The acquisition will accelerate Yahoo’s strategy, which is focused on search, communications, and digital content through growth in mobile, social, native, and video advertising. Acquiring BrightRoll will dramatically strengthen Yahoo’s video advertising platform, making it the largest in the US.
Online video advertising is increasingly fragmented across thousands, if not millions, of sites and mobile apps. More so than with traditional broadcast television, advertisers are seeking ways to buy online video advertising at scale across many sites in fewer, simpler transactions. BrightRoll provides an elegant solution, aggregating high-quality publishers together into a unified network and utilizing programmatic advertising and aggregation to allow real-time buying on the largest set of online video advertising inventory available. BrightRoll’s approach not only benefits advertisers and publishers, but also improves experiences for consumers, through better quality, more relevant advertisements.
BrightRoll is the industry’s leading programmatic video advertising platform for reaching audiences across desktop, mobile and connected TV.
- BrightRoll powers digital video advertising for the world’s largest brands and agencies, including 87 of the AdAge Top 100 US advertisers, all of the top 15 advertising agencies, and all 10 of the leading demand-side platforms
- BrightRoll served more video ads and reached more consumers in the US in 2014 than any other platform, according to comScore
- Tens of thousands of sites and mobile apps send approximately two billion requests per day to BrightRoll to monetize the inventory they worked hard to create
“Video, along with mobile, social, and native, is driving a surge in digital advertising. Here at Yahoo, video is one of the largest growth opportunities, and BrightRoll is a terrific, strategic and financially compelling fit for our video advertising business,” said Marissa Mayer, Yahoo CEO. "As with every acquisition, we have been extremely thoughtful about our approach to the video advertising space. This acquisition will accelerate the growth of both companies – we can help BrightRoll scale to even more advertisers globally and they can bring their tremendous platform offering to Yahoo’s advertisers. The combination builds positive momentum for Yahoo’s broader display advertising business in 2015.”
“We believe the next step for programmatic video advertising as an industry is to extend and standardize globally, make cross-device buying simple and measurable, and complement and integrate with TV,” said Tod Sacerdoti, BrightRoll CEO and Founder. “We are excited to join Yahoo to materially advance efforts in each of these areas. We’re still in the early innings as an industry, and together, BrightRoll and Yahoo are committed to the vision of helping grow the entire video advertising ecosystem.”
Following the closing of the acquisition, expected in Q1 2015, BrightRoll will continue to offer its current suite of industry-leading products and services. With Yahoo’s additional investment and global support, BrightRoll’s platform and advertising solutions will continue to improve and expand. BrightRoll will retain their talented team of approximately 400 employees, all of whom will remain completely focused on digital video advertising.
Yahoo is acquiring BrightRoll for approximately $640 million in cash. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.
About BrightRoll
BrightRoll is the industry’s leading programmatic video advertising platform for reaching audiences across desktop, mobile and connected TV. The company powers digital video advertising for the world’s largest brands, including 87 of the top 100 US advertisers and 18 of the top 20 advertising technology companies. The platform enables advertisers to reach 4 in 5 video viewers online and consistently ranks as one of the industry leaders in ads served. As a result, BrightRoll technology collects and analyzes hundreds of billions of data points monthly enabling real-time decisions that drive ROI for advertisers. To learn more, visit http://www.brightroll.com/.
About Yahoo
Yahoo is focused on making the world’s daily habits inspiring and entertaining. By creating highly personalized experiences for our users, we keep people connected to what matters most to them, across devices and around the world. In turn, we create value for advertisers by connecting them with the audiences that build their businesses. Yahoo is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and has offices located throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific (APAC) and the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions. For more information, visit the pressroom (pressroom.yahoo.net) or the Company's blog (yahoo.tumblr.com).
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties concerning Yahoo's proposed acquisition of BrightRoll (including without limitation the statements contained in the quotations from management in this press release), as well as Yahoo's strategic and operational plans. Actual events or results may differ materially from those described in this press release due to a number of risks and uncertainties. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the possibility that the transaction will not close or that the closing may be delayed; and that the anticipated benefits to Yahoo, including enhanced earnings, acceleration of our strategy, strengthening of our video advertising platform, and returning display advertising to growth may not be realized. More information about potential factors that could affect Yahoo's business and financial results is included under the captions, "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2014, which are on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
