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Ad Tech Firms in '$100m' Merger
New York-based ad targeting tech specialist AppNexus, in which WPP is an investor, is to acquire rival firm Yieldex, in a cash and stock deal said to be worth about $100m.
 AppNexus is already worth $1.2 billion privately according to the Wall Street Journal. Marketing services giant WPP bought in to the tune of $25m in September, simultaneously selling AppNexus the Open AdStream (OAS) ad serving platform developed by its audience profiling and targeting division Xaxis. AppNexus made two other analytics-related acquisitions last year, cross-device targeting firm MediaGlu in December and French online ad viewability specialist Alenty, in June.
Yieldex, which just last month launched a system to predict viewable impressions from historical data, and which entered the European market with a London office in June, will bring AppNexus new technology including systems to maximise the sale value of ad space.
AppNexus CEO and co-founder Brian O'Kelley (pictured) says the merger will round out the company's offer and allow it to compete with Google as an 'independent alternative'. He comments: 'We had half the solution each, and over the past 18 months we had the conversation of putting them together'.
AppNexus, which says it is on course for $250m in annual revenue in 2015 and should turn a profit, is online at www.appnexus.com .
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