TV advertising firm Cadent has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire demand-side platform (DSP) AdTheorent for $324 million.
Cadent announced Monday plans to acquire all outstanding shares of AdTheorent for a cash consideration of $3.21 per share.
The deal would add greater programmatic power to Cadent’s pedigree in TV buying and bring its total customer base to nearly 1,000 advertisers, the company said in a release.
It comes eight months after Cadent was acquired by Canadian private equity firm Novacap in August 2023 in a deal valued at about $600 million, according to Insider, making it one of the largest ad tech acquisitions of the year.
Novacap provided strategic services and funding to Cadent for the AdTheorent transaction.
Cadent was previously owned by private equity firm Lee Equity Partners, which acquired it in 2013.
The New York-based firm was founded in 2007 as a cable TV ad seller called Cross MediaWorks. It has since expanded to broadcast and streaming TV and last year grew its omnichannel programmatic inventory when it acquired EMX’s supply-side platform in May.
The firm provides a consolidated platform for major agencies and advertisers to target ads across more than 1,100 broadcast stations, 90 cable networks, 200 multichannel video programming distributors, according to its website.
As of August, it had about 375 employees, per Axios.
Cadent CEO Nick Troiano said the AdTheorent deal “will connect the worlds of programmatic and TV.”
It builds on a recent trend of TV sellers getting closer to demand, following Disney’s recent deals to integrate directly with Google and The Trade Desk DSPs.
AdTheorent was founded in 2012 and has around 300 employees.
It merged with special purpose acquisition company MCAP Acquisition Corp. in July 2021, valuing the company at about $1 billion.
The programmatic firm posted $171 million in revenue in 2023, up 3% from the prior year, and $81.7 million in gross profit.
AdTheorent CEO James Lawson said Cadent has “a shared commitment to delivering measurable results for customers, and a complementary vision for the future of omnichannel advertising.”
“In an increasingly competitive and evolving ad tech sector, we are excited to bring together our teams, technology and solutions to drive continued value to our customers and our employees,” Lawson said in a release.
The transaction has been approved by AdTheorent’s board but is subject to shareholder approval, customary closing conditions and completion of regulatory review. It is expected to close in approximately 90 days.
This article originally appeared on Campaign US.
