Singtel subsidiary Amobee acquires US firm Turn for US$310m

SINGTEL subsidiary Amobee, a global digital marketing technology company serving brands such as Airbnb, Dell EMC and Lexus, on Thursday said that it would acquire Turn, a leading provider of a global technology platform for marketers and agencies, at an enterprise value of US$310 million.

Turn offers advanced data and analytics solutions through a data management platform (DMP), allowing marketers to better understand customer interactions across ad formats and devices.

It further operates a demand-side platform (DSP) which provides programmatic buying capabilities that automate the process of buying digital ads in real time across video, mobile and display for major brands including Kraft Heinz, Toyota and L'Oreal USA.

The acquisition of Turn will expand Amobee's existing programmatic and data management capabilities, Singtel said in a filing to the bourse operator.

It added that Amobee will be able to offer marketers an independent end-to-end advertising and data management platform across all channels, formats and devices, access to proprietary Amobee Brand Intelligence insights, as well as advanced analytics and media planning capabilities.

With the unified platform, leading brands and agencies can plan and buy media for specific audiences in a more integrated way to maximise their investments across desktop, mobile, video and social media, said the telco.

Said Samba Natarajan, Singtel's CEO of Group Digital Life: "With marketers increasingly shifting from traditional to digital media to engage consumers, global digital ad spend is expected to exceed US$200 billion in 2017. The strategic acquisition of Turn strengthens Amobee's technological edge in the rapidly evolving market of digital advertising, and accelerates its growth into a significant global digital marketing player. It will also prime Amobee for expansion beyond the US and into the Asia-Pacific, where the Singtel group reaches some 640 million customers across 22 countries."