Taboola and Outbrain, two digital advertising platforms, have entered into an agreement to merge, subject to customary closing conditions. Both companies’ Boards of Directors have approved the transaction. The combined company aims to provide enhanced advertising efficacy and reach to marketers worldwide, while helping news organizations and other digital properties more effectively find growth in the years to come.
“Over the past decade, I’ve admired Outbrain and the innovation that Yaron Galai, Ori Lahav and the rest of the Outbrain team have brought to the marketplace. By joining forces, we’ll be able to create a more robust competitor to Facebook and Google, giving advertisers a more meaningful choice,” said Adam Singolda, Founder & CEO of Taboola.
Upon closing, Mr Singolda will assume the CEO position of the combined company, which will operate under the Taboola brand name, with branding to be determined and to reflect the merger of the two companies.
The combined company will have over 2,000 employees across 23 offices, serving over 20,000 clients in more than 50 countries across the Middle East, North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions. TDG (ThinkDigital Group) is Taboola’s exclusive partner in 28 Markets in CEEMEA.
Mr Singolda also points out the global figures of digital advertising spend domination between three players — Google, Facebook and Amazon. “We’re passionate about driving growth for our customers and supporting the open web, which we consider critical in a world where walled gardens are strong, and perhaps too strong. Working together, we will continue investing to better connect advertising dollars with local and national news organizations, strengthening journalism over the next decade. This is why we’re merging; this is our mission,” he explained.
“We are excited to partner with Taboola. Both Outbrain and Taboola have a shared mission and vision of supporting quality journalism globally and delivering meaningful value to the open web marketplace,” added Yaron Galai, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Outbrain.
He added, “Ori and I had a vision of helping people discover quality content online, and we see tremendous opportunity in joining forces in order to bring the next wave of innovation to our publisher partners and advertisers. I’m confident that together, we will be able to further our mission, which we call our Lighthouse, of bringing the best, most trustworthy content discovery capabilities to users around the world.”
Under the terms of the merger agreement, Outbrain shareholders will receive shares representing 30 percent of the combined company plus USD 250 million in cash.
The Board of Directors of the combined company will consist of current Taboola and Outbrain Management and Board members. Eldad Maniv, President & COO of Taboola and David Kostman, co-CEO of Outbrain will work closely together on managing all aspects of the post-merger integration. Mr Galai will remain committed to the success of the combined company, and actively assist with the transition for the 12 months following the closing.
“We are fortunate to have great talent at both Outbrain and Taboola. As soon as the merger closes, we will work to integrate teams, technologies and infrastructures so we can quickly accelerate growth across all dimensions. We have set aggressive goals for bringing value to our customers, driving technology innovation and delivering financial results to our shareholders through increased efficacy and innovation. By working with David and the Outbrain team, I’m confident we can achieve them,” added Mr Maniv.
“For over 10 years, each company has built incredibly powerful solutions that have helped tens of thousands of publishers and advertisers thrive. I look forward to working together with Eldad and his team to bring together the best of each company’s technology, product and business expertise to build a compelling global open web alternative to Google and Facebook,” added Mr Kostman.
The companies have cited increased advertiser choice, greater advertising efficiency, higher revenue and user engagement for publishers, accelerated innovation and better consumer experience as some of the reasons for the merger.
