Video ad network YuMe has acquired fellow video advertising company and competitor, Appealing Media. YuMe, which declined to reveal financial terms of the deal, will open up its first office in Europe (in London) with the acquisition.

Appealing Media offers one of the largest mobile video advertising platforms in Europe. Appealing Media helps advertisers and publishers implement video ad campaigns across native apps, touch web and mobile web properties. The company’s customers include ESPN, IPC Media, Bauer Media, and Universal McCann.

YuMe’s technology places video ads dynamically in publisher videos across a variety of platforms. The company also develops monetization technologies for video publishers that allow them to build apps to support mobile video ads.

YuMe has its own mobile ad offerings, but Appealing Media will help the company expand to European markets. YuMe recently launched new mobile products, releasing SDKs for iOS devices and two new mobile video ad units to help advertisers, web publishers, and app developers extend their reach to iOS devices.

This is actually YuMe’s first acquisition since its launch in 2007. The company, which has raised $55 million and is profitable, has also hired a new CFO, Tim Laehy to help lead YuMe’s financial efforts. Laehy was previously EVP of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Covad Communications, where helped take the company public.

So is YuMe ready for an IPO? CEO Michael Mathieu says that an IPO could be in the horizon but they haven’t ruled out any options, including raising more money or an acquisition.

In the end, Mathieu says that YuMe is focusing on providing advertisers and publishers with the platform to manage advertising campaigns across all screens – PC, mobile, connected TV. YuMe faces competition from Tremor Media.

Crunchbase

• YUME

Company: YuMe

Website: yume.com

Funding: $72.9M

YuMe is the software infrastructure provider powering digital video and the next generation of television with its operating system for TV 2.0. Its video advertising technology and services seamlessly connect advertisers, app developers, content distributors, consumer electronics manufacturers, and publishers across the globe. YuMe’s patent-pending Relevance Engine powers its premium in-stream video ad network, the YuMe Connected Audience Network, and its industry-leading advertising management solutions, ACE for Publishers and ACE for Advertisers. The YuMe Relevance Engine matches the right...

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