“We are thrilled to join the Telenor family. With more than 200 million mobile subscribers in 13 markets, Telenor is one of the largest and most successful telecom companies globally. I am excited by what this acquisition means for our employees, our partners and our continued growth. This will accelerate our vision to become the worlds’ leading provider of unified digital marketing solutions,” Traasdahl said in a statement.
But this doesn’t mean that Telenor will only be using the technology for its own audience of subscribers: Tapad says it works with 160 of the top U.S. brands and has inked 50 data technology licensing partnerships. In 2015, the company is expected projects it will have revenues of $57 million, up 70% versus 2014. It is however loss making with a negative EBITDA of $12 million. It forecasts 2016 revenues of $90 million, and “Telenor expects Tapad to reach EBITDA break-even in 2017.” Tapad has approximately 160 employees, with offices in 13 key cities in the U.S. and Europe.
“Telenor’s ambition is to deliver a broad range of relevant, personalized and engaging digital services for our customers, as well as to improve efficiency by further digitizing our core business, including important areas like sales, marketing and distribution,” the carrier said in its statement on the deal. “Telenor has previously taken positions within new digital business areas within the Internet of Things, Online Classifieds and Financial Services. The acquisition of Tapad will give Telenor a solid position within advertising and marketing technology and strengthen Telenor’s data analytics capabilities significantly.”
Tapad will operate as a stand-alone company under Telenor. Traasdahl, the current CEO, and Liodden, CTO, will maintain their positions. The company has 160 employees.