Singtel’s digital ad division Amobee acquires Turn for $310M

Amobee just announced that it has agreed to acquire adtech company Turn for $310 million.

Amobee used to be a mobile ad startup itself, before a 2012 acquisition by Singtel, where it remains a subsidiary. Since then, Singtel and Amobee have continued to make more acquisitions on the digital ad side, including Gradient X, Adconion and Kontera.

Turn, meanwhile, operates both a data management platform and a demand-side platform for ad buyers. It raised more than $150 million in equity funding from investors, including Focus Ventures, Greenspring Associates, Fidelity Investments, BlackRock, Norwest Venture Partners, Trident Capital and Shasta Ventures.

A few years ago, there were rumored plans for a Turn IPO. That never materialized, however — perhaps because it’s been a tough time for adtech companies on the public markets (things might be picking up again).

In a blog post, Turn CEO Bruce Falck said that after he joined the company in September 2015, “We refocused on our roots as a technology and data science company and went to work solving new problems for marketers, especially across video, data and insights.”

Falck also said that as part of Amobee, Turn will continue to pursue a mission of “being the global source of truth for marketers,” with a team of 800 people working with more than 1,000 customers.

“This acquisition makes Amobee one of the largest independent buy-side marketing technology providers globally, boosts our data analytics capabilities and understanding of consumers, and provides a strong foundation for our future growth,” said Amobee CEO Kim Perell in the acquisition release.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2017, subject to regulatory approval.