Burns & Levinson Closes $30 Million Acquisition Of AdvertiseCast

Burns & Levinson has closed the $30 million acquisition of client AdvertiseCast, LLC by Liberated Syndication Inc. (OTCQB:LSYN) (Libsyn), the industry’s leading podcast hosting platform. Libsyn has acquired AdvertiseCast, one of the largest independent and fastest-growing podcast advertising companies, for a purchase price of up to $30 million including $18 million in cash, $10 million in newly issued Libsyn shares, and $2 million which will be paid as an earn-out. AdvertiseCast co-founders Trevr Smithlin and Dave Hanley will remain with the company.

The deal was announced on March 31, 2021 and closed on June 7, 2021. It was led by Josef Volman, who co-chairs the Business Law Group at Burns & Levinson, and the deal team included partner Bryan Natale and associate Kaitlin Spurling. Deborah Peckham, co-chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Group, and associate Brooke Penrose provided deal support on IP and data privacy issues. Telos Advisors LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to AdvertiseCast in the deal. This is the third major deal in the podcasting industry that Burns & Levinson and Telos Advisors have collaborated on in the past three years. In 2019, they represented Pineapple Street Media in its acquisition by Entercom Communications.

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“We were thrilled to represent AdvertiseCast in this important deal. We used our deep expertise in this emerging podcasting industry to bring AdvertiseCast together with the right company to grow their business to the next level,” said Volman. “It’s a very exciting time in the podcast field and we look forward to continuing our work with the leaders in the industry as more and more consolidations occur.”

“We chose Burns and Levinson for their vast knowledge in the podcasting industry as well as their extensive experience in middle market M&A. Joe and his team were able to navigate the transaction and complex issues to get us to the finish line,” said Trevr Smithlin, co-founder of AdvertiseCast.

Founded in 2016, AdvertiseCast’s self-serve marketplace enables podcast advertising for over 1,500 active mid- and large-tier podcasters currently on its network and allows advertisers and agencies to efficiently buy and manage advertising campaigns in the podcast sector. Since inception, AdvertiseCast revenue has grown rapidly, increasing 45% year over year in 2020 to approximately $12 million. AdvertiseCast has scaled profitably since inception with no outside investment.

The combination of Libsyn’s 75,000 podcasts and AdvertiseCast’s premier advertising capabilities will accelerate revenue opportunities for podcast creators and provide advertisers with significant new inventory. The acquisition will position Libsyn to be the leading platform for both podcast hosting and monetization.

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