Mediaocean to Acquire Flashtalking, Adding Complementary Solutions to Power $200 Billion in Annualized Media Spend

Combined companies will establish the most trusted, independent technology platform for omnichannel advertising with emphasis on cross-channel video and dynamic creative

Mediaocean, the mission-critical platform for omnichannel advertising, and Flashtalking, the leading independent ad management platform, announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement in which Mediaocean will acquire Flashtalking. The combined entity will infuse Flashtalking’s best-in-class solutions for primary ad serving, creative personalization, identity management, and verification with Mediaocean’s modern system of record used by the world’s leading brands and agencies.

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The announcement comes at a critical inflection point for the advertising industry as marketers seek trusted, independent solutions to manage the rise of big tech. Mediaocean and Flashtalking customers will benefit from comprehensive and future-forward solutions for global strategic planning, omnichannel media management, closed ecosystems optimization, and financial reconciliation across traditional media, open web, closed ecosystems, and connected TV.

“Bringing together Mediaocean and Flashtalking is an incredible opportunity for our customers, employees, and the industry at large,” said Bill Wise, CEO of Mediaocean. “Flashtalking is the source of truth for digital and CTV ads and Mediaocean is the system of record for all media. Combined, we will deliver comprehensive and future-forward solutions for omnichannel advertising. Most importantly, our platform is not compromised by media ownership so we can focus solely on driving outcomes for marketers and their agency partners.”

“Our mission of enabling marketers to move consumers to action is a perfect fit for Mediaocean’s vision of a world where marketers market the way consumers consume,” said John Nardone, CEO at Flashtalking. “Over the years, we’ve built the most trusted, independent platform for driving advertising relevance and improving campaign performance. Together, our teams and complementary tech will help brands succeed in a future dominated by converged media and anchored on cookieless identity resolution.”

“As we continue to innovate, it’s crucial to have technology that enables us to meet the moment for consumers,” said Deborah Wahl, CMO of General Motors. “It’s encouraging to see companies like Mediaocean and Flashtalking come together to deliver on the omnichannel advertising imperative. The industry needs a neutral and independent player in the ecosystem to enable media convergence.”

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“The combination of Mediaocean and Flashtalking signals a critical milestone as the industry moves towards open and interoperable solutions,” said Paul Gelb, Head of Digital Activation and Investment at Bayer. “One of the biggest opportunities in modern media is connecting technology across planning, buying, ad serving, and creative optimization. With Flashtalking, Mediaocean has improved its potential value proposition for omnichannel advertising.”

The acquisition of Flashtalking by Mediaocean builds on a partnership the companies launched in 2018 to incorporate ad serving data into media buyer workflow. The combined entity will represent an advertising technology platform with over $200 billion in annualized media spend and over 1 trillion monthly ad impressions. Earlier this year, Mediaocean announced its new product paradigm that unifies solutions across media intelligence, management, and finance. The company’s product transformation and emphasis on culture have been recognized with Customer’s Choice designation from Gartner Peer Insights¹ and Best Places to Work by Ad Age.

The global advertising industry is a $700 billion market² undergoing major transformation due to changing consumer habits and privacy expectations. This has led to the rise of CTV and closed ecosystems in which Mediaocean made a large investment via the acquisition of 4C in July 2020 and, now with Flashtalking, will enhance its best-in-class solutions. The combined companies will enable a number of innovative value propositions for advertisers and agencies:

• Unified planning and measurement of traditional and digital media including cross-channel video
• In-flight campaign optimization through AI-driven recommendations and automation
• Data-driven creative personalization across open web and closed ecosystems
• Flexible identity resolution to enable omnichannel reach in a cookie-less world as well as privacy compliance with CCPA and GDPR
• Advanced brand insights and analytics for media impact on sales conversions

The terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to Flashtalking and Travers Smith LLP and Goodwin Procter LLP as its legal counsel.

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