Neustar Buys Ad-Tech Firm Aggregate Knowledge for $119 Million

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By Todd Wasserman2013-10-30 20:38:03 UTC

Neustar announced on Wednesday that it had purchased Aggregate Knowledge, a 7-year-old ad-tech firm, for $119 million.

Although the companies didn't disclose financial terms of the deal, AdExchanger reported that Neustar paid $119 million in cash. Neustar describes itself as a "neutral provider of real-time information and analysis to the communications services, financial services, retail, and media and advertising sectors."

Formed in 2006 by Paul Martino, Aggregate Knowledge aims to help advertisers and agencies pinpoint where to reach the highest-performing customers in real-time, using machine-learning algorithms. The company says it makes media-buying an exact science.

Aggregate Knowledge has received a total of $63.7 million in funding from First Round Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and DAG Ventures, among others.

The purchase comes amid some recent consolidation in the ad-tech space. This summer, Criteo, Media6Degrees, X+1 and Yahoo all bought mobile ad-tech companies over the course of one week. Last year, there were 132 ad-tech mergers and acquisitions, according to Terence Kawaja, chief executive of boutique investment bank Luma Partners. In comparison, 68 deals were made in 2010.

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Image: Facebook, Aggregate Knowledge

Topics: acquisition, Advertising, Business