News Corp to Sell Unruly to Tremor

Rupert Murdoch's media group News Corp has agreed to sell its video ad distribution and tracking platform Unruly to video ad technology business Tremor International. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2006, Unruly uses emotional data to deliver targeted advertising to 1.2 billion people. The company tracks video views using its proprietary measurement platform and analytics dashboard, through which brands and agencies can measure the impact of their social media video strategies against their competitors'. In addition, the company uses historical sharing behaviour to predict the potential for video ads to go viral across all digital touch points.

News Corp bought Unruly in 2015 for an initial £56m and with potential for £56m more in future performance-related payments. The latest deal will see the media giant receive 6.91% of Tremor stock, subject to an eighteen-month lock up period and certain adjustments, along with a total minimum revenue guarantee for News Corp of £30m for a three-year partnership. This partnership will provide Tremor with the exclusive right to sell outstream video on more than 50 News Corp titles in the UK, US and Australia.

Last year, Tremor acquired RhythmOne, which provides cross-screen solutions focused on connected TV (CTV), and including audience data and analytics capabilities. Tremor says its latest acquisition will further position it as the industry's 'most complete and comprehensive' video advertising platform.

As part of the deal, Rebekah Brooks, News Corp UK CEO, and Norm Johnston, CEO at Unruly, intend to join the Board of Directors of Tremor. Johnston (pictured) comments: 'Unruly will benefit from Tremor's wide range of formats, including advanced TV and in-app, as well as an analytics suite and yield optimisation tools. Together we'll bring the power of emotions to video advertising to drive better results for advertisers, higher levels of engagement for consumers and more revenue for publishers'.

Web sites: www.newscorp.com , www.unrulygroup.com and www.tremorinternational.com .