Publigroupe takes over Sellbranch

The addition of Sellbranch to its portfolio will enable Publigroupe to become a key player in the fast-growing markets of the Nordic countries in the field of real-time advertising (RTA), according to the press release. The acquisition is subject to approval by the Swiss Competition Commission (COMCO).

Sellbranch's services are tailored to the needs of digital media companies that want to automate their sales relationships and operate private premium marketplaces. Sellbranch works with over 20 leading media companies in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Sellbranch achieved a transaction volume of SEK 23 million (three million Swiss francs) in 2013 and is experiencing strong growth, particularly in the programmatic segment. The company was founded in Sweden by experienced internet veterans and opinion leaders, Fredrik Sellgren and Ola Ahlvarsson. They will remain shareholders in the company. Fredrik Sellgren will continue to be responsible for the management and development of the company, and Ola Ahlvarsson will become a member of the Board of Directors, representing the second largest shareholder, Keynote Media Group AB.

Sellbranch's revenue management expertise and Improve Digital's underlying technology provide online publishers with the immediate ability to open thousands of customer relationships. All major demand-side platforms (DSPs), agencies and trading desks are already integrated into the platform. This enables higher yields, efficiency gains and maximum advertising utilization, data security and control. Sellbranch works with well-known agencies and trade desks, including WPP and Xaxis. Yahoo, Spilgames, Spay and Passagen and others are among its publisher clients.

Arndt Groth, CEO of Publigroupe: "Sellbranch is a fast-growing company with a tremendous value proposition. The Sellbranch team has outstanding competencies in combining technology, demand generation, data management and analytics and represents a significant extension of our European technology and services strategy in the area of advertising commerce in the dynamic Nordic markets. With Sellbranch's clients and premium target groups, we can optimally complement our portfolio of companies, which includes Improve Digital, Spree 7 and Zanox.

Ola Ahlvarsson, founder and investor of Sellbranch: "Publigroupe is well positioned to become a European leader in the exciting and fast-growing online advertising space. As founders of Sellbranch, the leader in the early adopter markets in the Nordics, we are excited to be part of this far-reaching vision".

Studies by IDC and PWC show that the entire Western European market for display advertising will reach the revenue mark of EUR 7.8 billion in 2017. The mobile display advertising segment will contribute another three billion euros. By 2017, a significant proportion of revenue from display advertising will be generated through the use of programmatic and real-time technologies in the USA and in the highly developed European markets.

An important part of the programmatic audience offered by Sellbranch is accessed through the use of real-time advertising technology. Instead of buying ad impressions in bulk on websites or networks at pre-negotiated prices, dynamic price offers can be made for specific ad impressions as they are displayed in the browser in real time. The advantages of real-time advertising are increased transparency and improved targeting. The result is a higher CPM (price per thousand contacts), an efficient advertising workflow and more effective advertising thanks to constant optimization in real time.