Pandora to acquire AdsWizz

Pandora has announced its acquisition of AdsWizz, as the largest music streaming service in the U.S. is set to take over a key digital audio ad-tech company.

AdsWizz will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Pandora. AdsWizz CEO Alexis van de Wyer will remain in that position. The acquisition cost is $145-million in cash and stock (minimum 50% cash). Pandora is reassuring investors that its quarterly guidance is unchanged. The deal is expected to close in Q2.

Pandora CEO Roger Lynch joined the company six months ago, and he said that tech development was a key area for the company. “Today we took an important step to advance that priority and accelerate our product roadmap,“ said Roger Lynch. “With our scale in audio advertising and AdsWizz’s tech expertise, we will create the largest digital audio advertising ecosystem, better serving global publishers and advertisers — while improving Pandora’s own monetization capabilities.”

From Alexis van de Wyer: “For the last ten years, our mission at AdsWizz has been to enable the global monetization of digital audio by building innovative advertising technologies for music streaming services, digital broadcasters and podcasters. We believe in providing value to all stakeholders — brands, publishers and listeners — through engaging and well-targeted advertising experiences,” he said. “Now is the time to combine forces with Pandora, one of the leaders and pioneers in digital audio, and accelerate our ability to provide solutions that meet the increasingly sophisticated needs of advertisers and digital audiences.”

The deal puts AdsWizz’s marketplace wholly within Pandora, available to Pandora’s existing advertisers. The extra reach to Pandora’s advertisers, and the increased revenue generated by the integration, is the main rationale for the acquisition. Pandora is pledging to invest in the continued technology development of AdsWizz platforms.

Representatives of both companies will attend (and speak) at tomorrow’s RAIN Podcast Business Summit.

 

Brad Hill