Online Ad Network Adify Sold To Cox Communications, For $300 Million Plus Earnout
This story was written by Rafat Ali.
Adify, the white-label online ad network, has been sold to an unlikely buyer, Cox Communications, for about $300 million and earn out, we have confirmed from sources. The San Bruno, CA based startup was out looking for funding, and had been getting some offers on the acquisition and decided to go with them. Investors in the company included Peacock Equity, the venture investment arm of NBC Universal (NYSE: GE), US Venture Partners, Venrock Associates and Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) Investments...it had raised a total of $27 million in funding in two rounds.
Adify is a self-service ad network for other companies interested in developing their own ad network. The service allows a publisher to negotiate ad rates, and to reject an advertiser if wanted, with Adify taking in about 20 percent of the revenues in. Clients include Guardian, Forbes.com, NBC WeatherPlus, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO) and others.
For Cox, the strategic fit is a bit of a stretch on the online side, as the cable company hasn't done a lot on the online side. But on the cable ad services side, it has been among the early movers into digital and VOD advertising.
By Rafat Ali