Ad platform Unruly sold to News Corp for £58m
London-based social video advertising platform Unruly sold to News Corp for £58m upfront + earn out of up to £56m
Unruly publishes, distributes and tracks mobile video advertising for news pages and social feeds.
News Corp will look to sell Unruly's product to its traditional advertisers - across its newspapers, TV stations and even Harper Collins books. This is part of News Corp's ongoing evolution from traditional to more broadly based media, particularly online, but retains the emphasis on advertising rather than subscription revenues.
Mindful of the cultural differences between the two organisations, and the risk of insensitive integration undermining Unruly's success, the business will be kept as a standalone entity (at least through the earn out!) from its current Shoreditch HQ.
The deal provides an exit for Unruly's institutional investors, the BGF, Amadeus and Endeit Capital.