DG acquires ad tech company Peer39

Ad management and distribution platform company purchases Israeli ad tech company Peer39 for $15.5 million.

By ROY GOLDENBERG
US dollars 390 (photo credit: Thinkstock/Imagebank)
US dollars 390
(photo credit: Thinkstock/Imagebank)
Ad management and distribution platform company Digital Generation Inc. (DG) has acquired Israeli ad tech company Peer39 Inc. for $15.5 million in cash and shares. DG will integrate Peer39 into its MediaMindonline division. MediaMind is an Israeli company that was acquired by DG 10 months ago for $514m.
The deal is expected to be closed in the coming days with DG paying $10m. in cash, issuing some 357,000 shares and assuming $2.3m. in earn out payment for Peer39’s webpage level data applications.
From the point of view of Peer39’s investors the exit is a disappointment. The company has raised $30m. since it was founded in 2006 by Amiad Solomon and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat. The main investors include Canaan Partners, Dawntreader Ventures, Highbridge Capital, Evergreen Venture Partners, JP Morgan’s SVB Financial Group and private investors like Dan Ciporen and John Medved.
Peer39’s data has been proven to drive significant performance for advertisers, while staying clear of online privacy concerns. Since the data is strictly about the content and structure of web pages, it has become a cookie-free solution that is integral to buying and selling advertising online.
Peer39’s employees will join MediaMind, DG’s online division, and Peer39’s CEO Andy Ellenthal will become DG’s executive vice president of sales and ad operations for both the TV and Online divisions. Peer39 is headquartered in New York and has its development center in Petah Tikva. Of the company’s 39 employees, 26 are in Israel.
Ellenthal said, “Over the past several years I’ve watched DG become the provider of choice for advertising delivery. More recently, DG has made a number of strategic acquisitions of unique creative and delivery businesses, like MediaMind, to address the growing online ad market.
Now, with the addition of Peer39, Media- Mind customers can access a consumerfriendly targeting solution for all their Premium and RTB buys while Peer39 customers will benefit from MediaMind’s global footprint. I’m not aware of any other company that has all the key ingredients to deliver what advertisers really want: a toolset to create the best possible advertising results while minimizing execution complexity.”
DG CEO Neil Nguyen said, “Advertisers are looking to take advantage of RTB, a fundamentally disruptive and transformative trend in online advertising. The Peer39 solution complements existing data-driven solutions offered by MediaMind, strengthening our offering to the RTB trading market.”