French startup, AdQuantic, has been purchased by Criteo, making it the behavioural display advertising firm’s second buy of the year.
AdQuantic concentrates on bid optimisation for search and was founded by Cedric Chanal and Simone De Liberato, with current CEO, Olivier de Taisne, overseeing the company up until this point.
Criteo has not disclosed terms of the buy, but a spokesperson at the French ad tech company, which raised $250 million from an IPO on the NASDAQ last October, did reveal to PerformanceIN that the transaction had been completed.
“I can confirm that Criteo has acquired AdQuantic,” the spokesperson said. “The talented team at AdQuantic will be a great addition to our staff and we are excited to bring them on board. They have joined Criteo with immediate effect.”
Retail buyer?
According to a note released by investment bank, Pacific Crest, Criteo has itself become an acquisition target given its own recent purchases as well as the current market conditions.
“The expansion of retargeting solutions into email increasingly positions Criteo to be an acquisition target itself,” the note reads. “Many of the acquisitions by enterprise companies have targeted email and social solutions…retargeting could be the next vertical of focus.”
In the past, Amazon has reportedly shown an interest in Criteo, which saw Sociomantic Labs, another performance display company, purchased by a subsidiary of global retail giant, Tesco.