Magnite, an adtech company has aqucired SpotX in a deal worth $1.17 billion in stocks and cash from European entertainment network RTL group. SpotX is a platform that provides video advertising including for connected TV.
The acquisition deal included 14 million shares of Magnite stock and $560 million in cash. Meaning that Magnite paid three times the amount RTL group did initially acquire SpotX. In 2014 RTL group purchased a $144 million stake in SpotX and then spent an additional $145 million to acquire the entire company in 2017.
According to a recent study, Connected TV (CTV) households are expected to grow by 82% by 20231. With this deal Magnite hopes to gain a stronger foothold in the connected TV space. In 2020, SpotX earned $67 million in revenue from CTV-related business, the company's total revenue for the year was $116 million
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Magnite's recent success
Magnite's stock has been doing quite well, it was up 13% in January. After the announcement of the deal, the stock went up 26%. The rise in its stock prices made it possible for Magnite to offer such a large cash amount for the acquisition. Magnite helps publishers sell space across their media and caters to apps, websites and connected TV channels. The deal with RTL group is a strategic move to gain a bigger presence in the CTV space.
Magnite was formerly known as Rubicon. Towards the end of 2019 Rucbion merged with Telaria, a video management platform and was rechristened Magnite in June 2020.
Talking about the acquisition Magnite CEO, Michael Barrett said, "The company’s vision is to build a highly scaled independent programmatic CTV and video ad platform."
Client portfolio of digital publishers
Prior to the acquisition SpotX was one of Magnite's competitors. Now the company will manage the inventory for many of the biggest device manufacturers, broadcasters and programmers. The client portfolio includes the likes of Disney and Hulu, Samsung, Roku, Discovery, ViacomCBS, Sling TV, Warner Media and more.
CTV was already a growing market but the pandemic has accelerated it adoption in many households. Though Magnite has a diverse income stream, desktop and mobile form the bulk of its revenue, Connected TV is expected to be the way forward. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of this quarter. Until then both companies will continue to operate as separate entities.
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Sources:
1. 2020, State of Connected TV Report 2020, The Association of National Advertisers and Innovid [online] available from: https://info.innovid.com/the-state-of-connected-tv-report-2020 [Feb 2021]