Ad tech company TripleLift is receiving a majority investment from global investment firm Vista Equity Partners, the company announced on Monday.
The deal is worth more than $1.4 billion dollars, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
There is a flurry of deal activity in the ad tech space, in connected TV, apps and measurement companies. The group at Lumascape, which tracks digital advertising entities and deals, recently found there is about $63 billion in the market from special acquisition purchase companies, or SPACs, looking for takeover targets.
Earlier this year, Taboola signed a deal to go public through a SPAC; PubMatic and Viant also went public in 2021; and DoubleVerify filed to go public earlier this month. Last year, Experian bought Tapad, a digital identity resolution provider, and Comcast's FreeWheel bought ad tech company Beeswax.
TripleLift CEO Eric Berry says the deal does liquidate part of the company to allow for Vista Equity Partners to acquire the shares they are requiring for the deal. However, Berry says there will be no immediate changes to the company’s directions or operations.
TripleLift had explored other possible options, including discussions with other private equity firms, but decided to partner with Vista Equity because of the outfit’s scale and experience investing in other technology firms, Barry says. “There are benefits in scale, but we’re not doing scale for scale’s sake, but are looking for what is complementary to our business,” he says, adding that Vista Equity could “provide vertical or horizontal complements to our business.”
TripleLift, an ad tech company that specializes in native programmatic advertising, has expanded its programmatic advertising to display and video, including a series of post-production advertising products designed for connected TV. Vista Equity Partners is a sprawling investment firm that funds companies in industries ranging from agriculture to government. Vista Equity Partners also invests in Integral Ad Science, MediaOcean, Naviga and Numerator, according to its website.
Under the deal, Berry will remain in his position and will continue serving on TripleLift’s board of directors. The company’s board will now include representatives from Vista Equity Partners, says Berry. TripleLift says its early investors, True Ventures and Edison Partners, will remain invested in the company.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021. The financial terms of the deal have not been officially disclosed.
