In keeping with our mission to provide comprehensive advertising analysis, MediaRadar puts together a report of the most important mergers and acquisitions news each week. Stay in the loop, whether you sell advertising space or focus on business development. 

This week, Twitter acquired CrossInstall, AbbVie expanded its portfolio with Allergan and CyberArk paid cash for IDaptive.

Twitter gains CrossInstall

Twitter has acquired digital signal processing (DSP) company CrossInstall as part of a business strategy to increase performance ad revenue. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. 

Launched in 2012, CrossInstall is one of the leading creators of programmatic interactive mobile ads. The tool enables advertisers to deliver personalized messages to targeted audiences. Most of CrossInstall’s clients are gaming app developers, such as Machine Zone, Jam City, SGN and PuzzleSocial.

CrossInstall itself specializes in “playable ads” which engage users through interactive content to deliver direct responses. 

CrossInstall will work to expand Twitter’s reach into various areas of app install and performance advertising. CrossInstall employs a team of about 70 employees, all of whom will join Twitter as a standalone unit for helping app developers. 

AbbVie makes strides with its purchase of Allergan

AbbVie has acquired Irish-based pharmaceutical company Allergan for $63 billion after gaining the approval of regulatory authorities. 

The deal is a major move to diversify and expand AbbVie’s revenue base, and will fit in with it’s established dominance in the market of immunology with current brands such as Humira, Imbruvica, Rivonq, Venclexta, and the recently launched Skyrizi. 

AbbVie has long been dependent on Humira as the world’s top-selling drug. Now it will be able to draw from Allergan’s vast portfolio of brand name drugs and medical devices including Botox, CoolSculpting, Linzess, and Juvederm. 

Analysts believe that this acquisition will make AbbVie the world’s fourth-largest drugmaker by the end of the 2020 fiscal year with a combined revenue of $50 billion. 

CyberArk acquires PAM enterprise IDaptive

CyberArk, an information security company which offers Privileged Account Security (PAM), has acquired IDaptive in an all-cash deal for $70 million. 

IDaptive is an identity and privileged access management enterprise. The combined companies will deliver an artificial intelligence-based, security-first approach to managing identities that is adaptive and architected on the principles of a Zero Trust security model. 

IDaptive will help to extend CyberArk’s ability to manage and protect identities with various levels of privileges across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. The acquisition follows the market trend of companies moving towards more cloud-based security systems and will offer clients privileged access with much decreased risk.   

In Other News

These weren’t the only major developments from the past week. Check out what else is happening:

• Charles Schwab has announced that the company has entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire the technology and intellectual property of Motif. 

• Telefonica, S.A. and Liberty Global announced that they have reached an agreement to combine their U.K. operations in a $38.9 billion deal that will create one of the biggest telecommunication service providers in the country. 

• Weeks after the announced acquisition of 5G specialist Affirmed Networks, Microsoft Corporation is buying another cloud communications software provider, Metaswitch Networks, to bolster its Azure 5G offerings. 

• According to the Wall Street Journal, Uber Technologies is aggressively pursuing food delivery service GrubHub Inc., a deal that would combine the two biggest meal delivery service companies at a time when the demand for their services has surged due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

• According to Bloomberg, snack maker Utz Quality Foods, Inc., famous for its namesake potato chips, is in talks to be acquired by Collier Creek Holdings for over $1 billion, and the deal could be reached by this month.