Telenor to acquire marketing firm Tapad for 360 million Dollars

Telenor Group is acquiring a New York based startup, Tapad, for 360 million dollars, though the startup founders are also from Norway— home country of Telenor Group. Tapad has been well-known for its cross device marketing solutions having accuracy of more than 90%.

According to the final agreement, the startup has been acquired for 360 million dollars on a debt and cash-free 100% basis. This acquisition comes at the point, when telecom sector is trying to position itself better in the future of technology world. With the exclusive access to such platform, Telenor will be able compete better in the ever growing digital advertising landscape. The Norwegian co-founders, Dag Liodden and Are Traasdahl have retained 5% stake in the company.

Telenor understands well that the future is digital, which is why, it has been taking different initiatives in countries of its presence. Apportunity, Internet of Things Expos, Youth Forum and Digital Winners are some of the many initiatives taken by the group to encourage a dialogue for the upcoming digital revolution. The total advertising global market amounted to approximately USD 160 billion in 2015. The market has seen a rapid development in recent years with the rise of algorithmic and automated buying at the expense of traditional advertising networks. This shift has enabled digital marketing operations, increasing the value of granular user data. The US digital advertising market is the most developed in terms of market size and competence. As emerging advertising markets are still small and underdeveloped, Telenor believes there are solid growth opportunities in both Tapad’s established markets and within Telenor’s footprint in emerging markets.

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.

Source & Image: Telenor