Multinational cable, fiber, telecommunications, contents, media and advertising company, Altice, has acquired online video advertising marketplace, Teads at an enterprise value of up to €285 million (US$308 million) on a cash and debt free basis.
Teads claims to have a global audience of more than 1.2 billion unique visitors including 720 million via mobile. Altice, in turn claims to have 50 million unique fixed and mobile customers globally (over 30 million of which are in the US and France). The French teleocm company has a presence in four regions – Western Europe (comprising France, Portugal and Switzerland), the United States, Israel, and the Overseas Territories (currently comprising the French Caribbean, the Indian Ocean regions and the Dominican Republic).
The acquisition puts Altice in a unique position to grow its global advertising platform and better monetize its core telecommunications access and content business. The telecom operator will provide clients with data-driven, audience-based advertising solutions on multiscreen platforms including TV, digital, mobile and tablets. It will also provide an open and intelligent advertising platform to the media industry, programmers and multichannel video programming distributors.
Michel Combes, CEO of Altice, said:
“Convergence of telecoms, content, and advertising is at the core of our business. There is significant incremental value to be generated from our assets. Teads, a powerful business in itself, with major presence in Altice footprint notably in the US and France, will enable us to offer a truly unique value proposition to brands and agencies on the one hand and the media industry, programmers and distributors on the other.”
Pierre Chappaz, Founder and Executive Chairman of Teads, said: “As part of Altice, we will be able to offer even more tailored, data-driven solutions and take our value proposition from the digital world to a multiscreen platform, which includes TV, digital, mobile and tablets. It is this differentiated offering which will allow Altice and Teads to uniquely prosper in the global advertising market.”
The senior management of Teads, including Executive Chairman Pierre Chappaz and Chief Executive Officer Bertrand Quesada, will continue to lead the business going forward and have agreed to reinvest a significant portion of their proceeds. Pierre Chappaz will join Altice’s Management Board responsible for all of its advertising activities.
The acquisition is subject to certain competition reviews and is expected to close in mid-2017.
Teads claims that its revenue grew by 44% in 2016 to an estimated €187.7 million (US$202.89 million). In turn, Altice says that its international advertising business fetches revenues in excess of €700 million (US$756.73 million) per year.