Viola Private Equity, an Israeli buyout and growth capital technology fund, is injecting $17 million into Adsmarket, a global performance-based advertising network based in Tel Aviv.
An affiliate of Viola Group, an investment consortium with nearly $2 billion under management, the PE fund will hold 21% of Adsmarket’s shares, valuing the company at $80 million pre-money.
Of the full investment amount, $12 million will be used to acquire shares from current shareholders, while $5 million will be effectively invested in the startup.
The agreement was signed at the beginning of July and the closing of the deal is expected to take place later this month.
Adsmarket is an international affiliate network, search engine marketing and social network advertising company, founded in 2006 by CEO Ofer Drucker, Adi Orzel and director Kfir Moyal.
While originally focused on Europe, the company has expanded to the Americas in the past 3 years, growing sales from $7 million in 2007 to an impressive estimated total of $80 million for this year. The company employs around 140 people, 120 of whom are based in Israel.