Expert System has reached an agreement for the sale of its subsidiary ADmantX to Integral Ad Science (IAS), global leaders in digital ad verification, for an enterprise value of €16.000.000, which is equal to 8X of the 2018 sales of ADmantX. ADmantX specializes in contextual advertising solutions, brand safety and first-party profiling based on Artificial Intelligence Natural Language Processing for online advertising. IAS in all-cash transaction purchased the 100% of ADmantX including the Expert System stake of 60.8% whose value is equal, after the deal adjustments, to €7.098.009.
“ADmantX has grown from a start-up into a successful business and is able to attract the attention of a global leader in the world of online advertising,” said Stefano Spaggiari, Chief Executive Officer of Expert System. “This deal is another clear confirmation of the value of Natural Language Understanding and the enormous potential of AI as a strategic asset for growth and development.”
The proceeds of the sale of the equity investment held in ADmantX will allow Expert System to pursue its strategy for continued growth and development as a global vendor of AI technology. IAS will integrate ADmantX features into its technology and will work closely with Expert System to continue to leverage Cogito platform in the global IAS suite of ad verification products.
“ADmantX shares our bold and disruptive vision to incorporate data and science as the foundation of building innovative and trustworthy solutions that both advertisers and publishers can trust,” said IAS CEO Lisa Utzschneider. “Adding this sophisticated contextual technology to our global product suite unlocks unprecedented contextual classification at scale, enabling precise ad targeting for marketers.”
IAS is headquartered in New York, NY with global operations in 17 offices across 13 countries. IAS is part of the Vista Equity Partners portfolio of software companies. The ADmantX brand will be absorbed under the IAS brand, where Lisa Utzschneider serves as CEO.
The subscription and closing for the transfer of ADmantX shares from Expert System to IAS were conducted simultaneously with the execution of the contract. The transfer is subject to a price adjustment to be determined by the end of Q1 2020, according to the possible change in net working capital and net financial position. In line with market practices for similar extraordinary transactions, Expert System issued the standard declarations and warranties for this type of contract to IAS.
About Integral Ad Science
Integral Ad Science (IAS) is the global market leader in digital ad verification, offering technologies that drive high-quality advertising media. IAS equips advertisers and publishers with both the insight and technology to protect their advertising investments from fraud and unsafe environments as well as to capture consumer attention, and drive business outcomes. Founded in 2009, IAS is headquartered in New York with global operations in 22 offices across 13 countries. IAS is part of the Vista Equity Partners portfolio of software companies. For more on how IAS is powering great impressions for top publishers and advertisers around the world, visit integralads.com
