Outbrain is set to acquire Teads in an agreement worth an estimated $1bn, including an upfront payment of $725m.
The deal combines Outbrain’s AI-driven performance technology with Teads’ video and branding solutions, bringing together 20,000 direct advertisers with 10,000-plus premium media environments, the companies said.
Outbrain and Teads’ combined platform will span 50-plus markets and reach more than 2bn consumers per month.
The price is substantially below previous estimates of Teads’ valuation, reflecting difficulty for Teads’ previous parent company Altice in finding a buyer.
Altice purchased Teads in 2017 for €285m and earlier this year it tasked Morgan Stanley with a planned sale of the adtech company. Morgan Stanley provided an expected valuation near $2bn, which was itself less than the price tag originally expected by Altice.
By July, Outbrain had been reported to be at an advanced stage in talks for the acquisition.
Teads in merger talks with Outbrain
David Kostman, CEO of Outbrain, will become CEO of the merged company, with Teads co-CEOs Bertrand Quesada and Jeremy Arditi becoming co-presidents. Meanwhile, Asaf Porat will serve as chief operating officer to lead the integration.
Altice will appoint two board members in addition to Outbrain’s existing eight.
“This is a transformative transaction to establish a true end-to-end, full-funnel platform for the open internet,” said Kostman. “The combination of our highly complementary offerings accelerates our vision to become the preferred partner to deliver meaningful brand outcomes across premium, quality media environments, while scaling the industry-leading offerings Teads is known for.”
Arditi added: “By joining our expertise in omnichannel video with Outbrain’s strengths in prediction and performance, we are poised to provide our customers and partners with more value than ever before.”
According to the companies, the combined entity is expected to generate adjusted Ebitda of $180-190m and anticipates adspend of over $1.7bn in 2024.
