Tremor buys connected ad company Spearad for $15m

Video and connected television advertising technology company Tremor International announced the acquisition of Spearad, a video advertising server and media management platform for broadcasters and TV content companies, on Tuesday.

The AIM-traded firm said the consideration for the acquisition was $14.7m (£10.65m), of which $11m was being satisfied from its existing cash reserves, with the remaining $3.7m being satisfied by the issue of 370,000 ordinary shares, subject to transfer and other contractual restrictions over a three-year period.

It said Spearad's ad server technology would be integrated into Tremor's ‘Unruly SSP’, enabling connected TV header bidding, channel inventory and ad pod management.

That, the board said, would complement the company's existing end-to-end technology stack, which also includes the ‘Tremor Video DSP’.

“Tremor's consistent, primary focus on video and connected TV has proven prescient in today's market, leading to meaningful growth across our exchange and putting us ahead of platforms only recently evolving from display,” said chief executive officer Ofer Druker.

“The acquisition further strengthens our leadership position as a video-first end-to-end platform, which provides real efficiencies for global advertisers, media companies and broadcasters in an ecosystem increasingly centred on connected TV.

“We're excited to welcome Spearad to Tremor, as well as its founders, Erhard Neumann and Mark Thielen - with their deep expertise in addressable TV - to our leadership team.”

At 1433 BST, shares in Tremor International were up 5.31% at 714p.