Media and Games Invest plc ("MGI", ISIN: MT000000580101; Symbol: M8G) today announced that its subsidiary gamigo AG agreed on acquiring Verve Wireless, Inc.'s business. Verve is a leading North American mobile data platform for location-based programmatic video and display marketing. Verve brings technology, intellectual property, and domain expertise in branded programmatic advertising and location-based analytics and data management. MGI Group welcomes Verve's team, its customers and partners and plans to support further expansion of the business globally utilizing synergies within its portfolio of companies.
Verve was founded in 2005 with offices in New York and San Diego. The acquisition is expected to generate additional net revenues in the lower double-digit million range in the current fiscal year for MGI Group. Depending on the speed of finalizing and integrating the transaction within the coming weeks, management expects an additional EBITDA in the low single-digit million range.
The acquisition of Verve's business assets expands the MGI Group's product portfolio, customer base and sales organization and strengthens its position in the North American market, furthermore there are great synergies by teaming with MGI's media and gaming companies.
MGI believes in the combination of M&A and organic growth in the gaming and media sectors having acquired over 30 companies and assets in the last 6 years, with a substantial part of its business in the US. By integrating and focusing on synergies, MGI is building leading platforms in the gaming as well as in the media and advertising segments while leveraging the strong connections between these segments.
The acquisition of Verve strengthens MGI's position in Media and Advertising and will boost the marketing of the game companies. While the MGI group already offers online performance marketing (Adspree), an influencer marketing agency (Mediakraft), a influencer SaaS platform (ReachHero), a supply side performance platform (Pubnative), and a global app performance agency (Applift), the MGI Group is now extended by Verve's programmatic mobile brand marketplace, as well as its data management and location-based platform.
Verve's customers will benefit from a significant increase in inventory reach and a wider range of advertising services. On the other hand, the other MGI companies will profit from Verve's true performance solution that leverages the power of first-party mobile data in the context of location, including strong and unique ad products such as Tap-to-Map, which enables retailers to drive store visits and pedestrian traffic.
"With the acquisition of Verve, we are expanding the position of the MGI Group in the media and advertising sector. Combined, the Group has a powerful global offering with over 600 million monthly active direct users, innovative proprietary technology, over 18 registered patents, a global sales team with offices and employees in over 20 countries worldwide and a strong customer base, including many blue-chip companies. This powerhouse in the media sector will also further strengthen the gaming sector, especially in the area of user acquisition for our portfolio games as well as for our new game launches," said Remco Westermann, CEO of MGI.
"Since day one, we have always believed in the power of the mobile internet and mobile apps and never doubted the multi-billion dollar opportunity it would deliver, particularly when anchored to first party mobile and location data," says Tom Kenney, co-founder and CEO at Verve. "We're excited to join the MGI family and partner with the MGI's portfolio to expand globally to help our clients achieve their mobile marketing objectives. I am proud of our team and thank them for their loyal and amazing efforts over these last 15 years."
About Verve:
Verve™ powers mobile marketing through Movement Science™, successfully connecting brands with their customers across smartphones, digital out-of-home, connected TV, and the many emerging screens of the modern consumer journey. Our proprietary location intelligence, patented technology, premium mobile inventory, and analytics capabilities empower marketers to reach consumers with compelling mobile advertising experiences that drive engagement and sales in both the digital and physical worlds.
Headquartered in New York City, Verve has offices in San Diego, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Los Angeles. For more information on Verve, visit verve.com, or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
About Media and Games Invest plc:
Media and Games Invest plc, MGI, is a fast and profitably growing company focusing on a "buy, integrate, build & improve" strategy through organic growth and acquisitions in the media and games markets. Technology is actively used to create efficiency improvements and competitive advantages within the group. Synergy and integration potentials are important criteria for the expansion of the portfolio. The most important investments include gamigo AG, a fast-growing gaming and media company, ReachHero GmbH, a leading influencer SaaS platform, Applift GmbH, a leading media company specializing in mobile advertising, and Pubnative, an SSP platform for mobile advertising. Media and Games Invest is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on XETRA.
