Rubicon Project Exploring a Possible Sale

Ad-tech platform Rubicon Project is exploring its options to possibly sell the company. The news comes nearly a month after it announced an $18 million cost-saving move to lay off 125 employees, or about 19% of its workforce. Regarding the potential sale, the company told Ad Age it does "not comment on inquiries of this kind." The Wall Street Journal was first to report the news. The company's stock fell 35% in the second quarter when CEO Frank Addante told investors it had been slow in adopting a header bidding strategy. Header bidding is a technology that allows all of a publisher's partners to bid on ad inventory at the same time, which often translates to more money. "We established a dominant position in desktop display that was unthreatened," Mr. Addante previously told investors. "And we created a premium solution that was largely unthreatened. And like most companies that create a premium solution, that allows you the opportunity to raise prices over time. We did that." Rubicon Project's stock jumped 12% following the news of a possible sale. In its most recent earnings, the company posted GAAP revenue of $65.8 million, a 2% increase over the third quarter of 2015. Net income came in at $3.5 million, up 217% from the same quarter last year. The overall ad spending passing through Rubicon's systems declined 1% to $242.8 million. News of ad-tech companies struggling has become almost commonplace over the last two years. Earlier this week, Rocket Fuel said it would lay off 93 employees in an effort to save some $20 million.

Rubicon Project Exploring a Possible Sale

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