In a move that combines two video advertising giants, Los Angeles’ Magnite has closed its acquisition of Denver’s SpotX for a value of $1.14 billion.
Magnite (Nasdaq: MGNI) today closed its previously announced acquisition of SpotX from RTL Group for $640 million in cash and 12,374,315 shares of Magnite stock. SpotX is a global video advertising and management platform with its headquarters in Broomfield.
By acquiring SpotX, Magnite said it better positions the company to help its clients grow their businesses across the connected television (CTV) space. The combined company’s clients now include A+E Networks, AMC Networks, Crackle, Discovery, FOX, fuboTV, LG, Roku, Samsung, Sling TV and Vizio.
“Scale and reaching the largest possible audience is the name of the game when attracting the demand our CTV and video clients need,” said Michael Barrett, president and CEO of Magnite, in a statement. “Acquiring SpotX positions us to become the world’s largest, independent source of highly-coveted CTV and video inventory. Two-thirds of our revenue is now concentrated in the fastest-growing segments of the market, and as linear TV dollars move to CTV, the greatest opportunity is still ahead of us.”
Following this move, SpotX will maintain its Colorado presence, a company spokesperson confirmed. The combined companies have approximately 1000 employees total, with 300 in the Denver area.
This isn’t the first acquisition for SpotX.
In 2017, European broadcast firm RTL Group bought the entirety of SpotX, just three years after it acquired two-thirds of SpotX in a $144 million deal. At that time, RTL said it purchased the rest of SpotX for $145 million in a deal that valued SpotX at $404 million.
The increased value of this acquisition highlights SpotX’s recent growth.
“CTV viewership and the ecosystem around it continues to evolve with new streaming services popping up every day and advertisers hoping to connect with those audiences,” said Mike Shehan, co-founder and CEO at SpotX, in a statement. “SpotX’s CTV business has experienced significant growth over the past year, and we believe our performance will only accelerate through this combination of resources by delivering even more value to our clients.”
Magnite, formed last year when Rubicon Project merged with Telaria, helps publishers sell ads across desktop, mobile, audio and connected television (CTV).
The company will discuss additional details about the transaction on its first-quarter 2021 earnings conference call on May 10.
