Dive Brief:

• Tremor International has agreed to acquire ad-tech firm Amobee from Singtel for $239 million, according to a news release. The deal, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the third quarter.
• The transaction includes Amobee’s omnichannel demand-side platform (DSP) and advanced TV solutions, but not its email marketing segment. Tremor’s efforts are focused on scaling its data-driven offerings in connected TV (CTV) and video.  
• Nabbing Amobee, which serves over 500 customers globally, will help Tremor expand its footprint in the U.S. and internationally. Marketing M&A is retaining a healthy amount of activity despite growing signs of a downturn. 

Dive Insight:

Tremor is shoring up an ad-tech stack that can meet advertiser needs around channels like CTV and digital video with the Amobee acquisition. The deal also serves as a scale play, broadening the firm’s presence in the U.S. and international markets and opening access to hundreds of Amobee clients. It is being funded through a combination of existing cash resources and a new $100 million debt facility. 

Other M&A moves from Tremor have sought to diversify capabilities around video. In early 2020, Tremor bought the programmatic video advertising platform Unruly from News Corp. Adding Unruly to the fold granted Tremor greater flexibility to negotiate exclusive deals with supply-side platforms. Now, Amobee brings over an omnichannel DSP and advanced TV platform, better rounding out its suite of products.  

Tremor is focused on three core areas — video, data and CTV — and aims to provide partners with end-to-end technology solutions on those fronts. Video and CTV have seen an influx of investment since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which accelerated cord-cutting trends. Tremor went public in June 2021.

Singtel, a Singapore-based telecommunications conglomerate, bought Amobee for $321 million back in 2012 amid a push into the then-fledgling mobile advertising market. Amobee has broadened its purview in the video arena in the time since. The company’s DSP in the spring was announced to have a planned integration with Peacock. 

While channels like CTV have been pandemic darlings when it comes to media spending, some growth could cool as the economy sputters. One in five marketers have cut their budgets due to soaring inflation, a recent Advertiser Perceptions survey found. Among that group, 47% have paused CTV activity, while 44% have done so for digital video, though some expect to turn the spigots back on in the fourth quarter.