Laura Desmond Appointed to DoubleVerify Board as Providence Equity Partners Acquires Majority Stake

Brand SafetyNative & Programmatic Advertising

By Sudipto Ghosh On Aug 23, 2017

Laura Desmond Appointed Lead Director of DoubleVerify as Providence Equity Partners Acquires Majority Stake

Private Equity Firm Investment Aims to Extend DV’s Leadership in Digital Media Measurement and Analytics

DoubleVerify (DV), a leading independent provider of digital media measurement software and analytics, has announced that it has reached an agreement for a majority investment by Providence Equity Partners, a leading global private equity firm with more than $50 billion in assets under management. Additionally, Starcom MediaVest Group CEO Laura Desmond, is set to join Board of Directors.

Scott Knoll, CEO of Integral Ad Science

Scott Knoll, CEO of Integral Ad Science (IAS), speaking exclusively to MarTech Series, mentioned how CMOs are increasingly focusing on getting it right with viewability and brand safety. Scott said, “It’s an exciting time for measurement and analytics companies, as we’ve seen two exits since the beginning of the year. As brand safety, ad fraud, and viewability trends as top priorities for CMOs, I expect we’ll see continued interest from the industry in companies that address these challenges. At IAS, we’re focused on building the best business possible and driving greater transparency and trust for our industry by activating our engineers, data scientists, and FraudLab to come up with innovativee technologies and stay ahead of the industry’s needs.”

Laura Desmond Appointed as Lead Director; Wayne Gattinella to Continue as CEO

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. In connection with this investment, digital marketing and advertising executive and former CEO of Starcom MediaVest Group Laura Desmond will be appointed as Lead Director of the DoubleVerify Board of Directors. CEO and President Wayne Gattinella will continue to lead the company following the close of the transaction.

Wayne said, “Providence Equity has a demonstrated ability to partner with unique data companies to realize accelerated growth and customer adoption. With Providence’s expertise and strategic insight, DoubleVerify is well positioned to capitalize on the outsized set of market opportunities and to launch new services that define the future of digital advertising engagement.”.

Since DV was founded in 2008 with the creation of the first brand safety solutions for online advertisers, 3^rd party measurement has become a requirement for most brand advertisers. The company now provides a comprehensive technology solution that assures the quality and performance of digital media investments for the world’s largest brands and media platforms. The DV Authentic Impression® provides clients with a single KPI to ensure each ad impression is viewable, fraud-free and meets brand safety requirements.

“As a leader in an increasingly important space, DoubleVerify is a dynamic, high-growth company with significant opportunities before it. The world’s largest brands are facing significant transparency challenges in digital advertising and DV’s software and data solutions are helping solve these critical pain points. We believe the full value of the Company’s offerings have yet to be unlocked and look forward to working with Wayne and his team to accelerate their growth strategy and create meaningful, long-term value for the Company,” said Davis Noell, Managing Director, Providence Equity Partners.

DV’s focus is to Deliver Transparency in AdTech Investments

Laura brings more than two decades of experience focused on the convergence of digital marketing and technology. She most recently served as the Chief Revenue Officer of the Publicis Groupe. Laurawas formerly the global CEO of Starcom Mediavest Group.

Laura mentioned, “I’ve spent nearly two decades working alongside the world’s largest brands and have seen first-hand the need for third party measurement from all digital media and social platforms. Today media quality is the number one issue impacting digital ad performance and DV helps to deliver the transparency clients need to make smart and safe advertising investments. I am thrilled to join the DoubleVerify Board, as I believe that no company is in a better position to solve these issues than DV.”.

Gattinella concluded, “Our ability to attract the high caliber talent and experience, represented by Laura and our partnership with Providence Equity, is also an affirmation of our solid execution on a differentiated strategy for growth. We look forward to building on our Company’s heritage of customer dedication and technical innovation and are eager to leverage their collective insight, experience, and global acumen in helping us deliver for our clients.”

Blumberg Capital will remain an investor in the Company and David Blumberg has been appointed to the DoubleVerify’s Board of Directors.

KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. served as financial advisor to DoubleVerify. Weil Gotshal & Manges served as legal advisor to Providence Equity Partners. Dentons US served as legal advisor to DoubleVerify.

DoubleVerify Delivers Maximum Advertising Performance to Fortune 500 Companies

Currently, DV is the leading independent provider of marketing measurement software, data and analytics that authenticates the quality and effectiveness of digital media for the world’s largest brands and media platforms.

DV provides media transparency and accountability to deliver the highest level of impression quality for maximum advertising performance. Since 2008, DV has helped hundreds of Fortune 500 companies gain the most from their media spend by delivering best in class solutions across the digital ecosystem that help build a better industry.