Ascential buys majority stake in Ohio-based ASR

Ascential said on Friday that it has bought a 51% majority stake in ASR, a digital content optimisation business that enables brands to grow sales through eCommerce marketplaces, for an initial consideration of $122m.

The information, data and analytics company also has an option to buy two further 24.5% stakes in the business based on a pre-determined multiple of trailing EBITDA between July 2022 and June 2025.

Ascential said that through its software-driven solutions, Ohio-based ASR helps drive higher consumer engagement rates for marketplace content and higher sales for the featured brands. In the year ended December 2020, ASR recorded unaudited adjusted EBITDA of $9.1m, which had grown to $13.6m for 12-month period ended 31 May 2021.

Chief executive officer Duncan Painter said: "ASR's leadership in eCommerce independent content optimisation adds capabilities in this rapidly emerging market to our already compelling measurement and execution services for brands.

"The global footprint of our existing business and expertise across multiple marketplaces offer a clear path to accelerate ASR's expansion, while introducing further insight and opportunities to grow our own digital commerce proposition."