Video network Rightster has acquired rival Base79 in a deal worth up to £50 million, it has been announced.
A smaller deal has also been made for the acquisition of Viral Spiral, the video management and licensing firm, in a cash and shares deal worth £4.1 million.
Rightster, a global b2b video network that runs more than 800 YouTube channels, said the deals will more than double the number of content partners the company works with.
“Acquiring Base79 and Viral Spiral is transformational for Rightster,” said Charlie Muirhead, the company’s founder and CEO.
“Together, they more than double the number of content partners on Rightster’s 360 video distribution platform and catapult us past the 1 billion video views per month milestone, making Rightster the largest YouTube partner outside North America by reach and a top five partner in North America.
“Importantly, this greater scale and expertise improves the service we will be able to offer creators and publishers, improving our ability to both grow audiences and increase monetisation and positions us as a global leader in the exploding online video market for brands and media agencies.”
Base79 is the largest YouTube multi channel network outside of North America with approximately 760 million views per month from 1,100 content partners including SBTV, Reuters and Ministry of Sound.
Viral Spiral is a specialist player in social video management, licensing and brand engagement, connecting major brands and agencies worldwide seeking to engage next generation audiences with social video talent.
Ashley MacKenzie, founder and CEO of Base79, added: “I am delighted that Base79 will now be able to offer an expanded range of services and support to both current and future customers. By joining forces with Rightster, we will be able to bring the expertise and industry relationships of the combined group across the world.”
In a statement, Rightster’s directors said they believe that the acquisitions will create a “scalable digital distribution solution for content creators and brand owners globally” and “support the company’s path to profitability.”
