LUMA Partners acted as Sole Financial Advisor to Unruly Holdings Limited
Completed September 30, 2015
Overview
On 9/16/2015, News Corp announced that it would acquire Unruly Holdings Limited. News Corp has agreed to pay £58 million (approx. $90 million) in cash at closing and up to £56 million (approx. $86 million) in future consideration contingent upon the achievement of certain performance objectives. Led by Unruly’s three co-founders, Unruly will operate as a separate business unit, reporting to Rebekah Brooks.
Strategic Rationale
Through the acquisition of Unruly, News Corp will gain access to Unruly’s expertise in video distribution, unique advertising platform and experienced technical team. Comes at a time when many publisher models are shifting from fragmented teams for production, distribution and monetization, to a unified system where data connects and powers the production, distribution and monetization strategies. Incumbent publishers have seen new entrants successfully leverage technology and data to increase page views, as well as drive higher CPMs. Unruly’s expertise in digital video distribution, native ad insertion, and content optimization will help News Corp get ahead of the trend to utilize technology and data for publishing. Represents the first large native advertising deal and puts News Corp at the nexus of native, video, and programmatic advertising, all of which are expected to grow significantly in the coming years. Allows Unruly’s top tier advertisers, such as Dove and T-Mobile, to benefit from News Corp’s premium content and distribution.
About Unruly
Unruly is the ad tech company that gets videos watched, tracked and shared across the Open Web. Positioned at the intersect of video, social, native & mobile, Unruly uses emotional audience data and user-friendly video formats to massively increase viewer engagement, brand performance & publisher revenues. Unruly employs 200 people across 15 offices, with regional HQs in London, New York and Singapore. Its super power is emotional ad tech. Its secret weapon is passionate people on a mission to #DeliverWow.
About News Corporation
News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content to consumers throughout the world. The company comprises businesses across a range of media, including: news and information services, book publishing, digital real estate services, cable network programming in Australia, digital education, and pay-TV distribution in Australia.