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, Spotify expanded its podcasting investments with Megaphone, Cleveland-Cliffs gained ArcelorMIttal, and Blackstone bought Ancestry.com.
Spotify gains Megaphone
Spotify made another investment in podcasting by completing its $235 million acquisition of podcast hosting company Megaphone (see Mergers & Acquisitions Newsletter from Nov. 13).
Spotify already hosts podcasts on Megaphone, but the deal means that more shows will use Spotify’s proprietary ad insertion service, Streaming Ad Insertion (SAI). The service, which launched in January, uses copious amounts of user data to run targeted ads inside podcasts; information such as the listeners’ location, age, type of device they’re using, and listening behavior.
The service is unique to spotify’s podcast streaming service, and doesn’t apply to listeners who download podcasts and listen to them offline because it requires a live server connection to make live ad insertion decisions. Extending SAI to Megaphone-hosted podcasts is the first time the tool will be used outside of Spotify’s own original, exclusive podcasts.
Cleveland-Cliffs and ArcelorMittal form largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. announced that it has completed its acquisition of ArcelorMittal. The $1.4 billion deal officially created the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America.
Cleveland-Cliffs will take over 19 operations, including 6 steel-making facilities from ArcelorMittal.
ArcelorMittal generated $9.9 billion in revenue in 2019 with shipments of approximately 17 million net tons of rolled steel. The combined company is expected to generate an estimated $150 million of annual cost saving synergies by linking the raw material sourcing and supply chain efficiencies.
Cleveland-Cliffs is financing the deal with $505 million in cash, and the rest in stock. The acquisition is the second high-profile buyout Cleveland-Cliffs has made this year, after it acquired AK Steel for $1.1 billion in March.
Blackstone buys Ancestry.com amid slow year
Private equity and investment firm Blackstone bought a 75% majority stake in Ancestry.com for $4.7 billion. According to the Ancestry website, the company has 3 million paying subscribers, 27 billion records, and tracks 100 million family trees.
Silver Lake and GIC Pte have been the majority owners of Ancestry since 2016. According to the deal, GIC will retain 25%.
The deal comes amidst a slow year for genealogy companies. Both Ancestry and its competitor 23andMe were forced to make layoffs early this year.
In the face of privacy concerns about handing genetic information to an investment firm, a spokesperson from Ancestry said “Ancestry’s terms and conditions and privacy statement is in effect for our users remains the same and Ancestry’s commitments to protect our customers’ personal data has not changed.”
In Other News
What else happened this week?
- Cybersecurity company Fortinet acquired IT network monitoring SaaS company Panopta.
- Sony announced that its child company FUNimation Entertainment will purchase Crunchyroll from AT&T and WarnerMedia for an estimated $1.175 billion.
- Los Angeles-based private equity firm Platinum Equity announced that it is acquiring Ingram Micro Inc, from Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co. for $7.2 billion.
- Despite the Coronavirus pandemic decimating the demand for high-end fashion goods, Italian luxury down jacket maker Moncler SpA announced that it is buying smaller Italian high-end streetwear and fashion brand Stone Island in a $1.4 billion deal.
- San Francisco-based fintech company Affirm announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Canada’s buy-now-pay-later provider, PayBright, for CAD $340 million.
- Online automotive marketplace CarGurus announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire 51% in CarOffer, an automated instant vehicle trade platform, for a price of $275 million.
- Hyundai Motor Company officially reached an agreement with SoftBank Group to acquire Boston Dynamics for $1.1 billion.
