Rubicon Project and Telaria have entered into a definitive agreement to combine in a stock-for-stock merger. The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies, will create the world’s largest independent sell-side advertising platform, poised to capture growth in CTV.
Combined, Rubicon Project and Telaria will enable thousands of publishers to connect with hundreds of buyers and brands, creating a global, independent alternative to closed players in the ecosystem.
In addition, the combined company will be an essential omnichannel partner for buyers across formats, screens and geographies. Both companies bring premium publisher partnerships and unique technical capabilities: Telaria as a leader in CTV, and Rubicon Project as an expert in scaled programmatic operations.
Furthermore, Michael Barrett will assume the role of chief executive officer of the combined company, and Mark Zagorski will be president & chief operating officer.
“The combination of Rubicon Project and Telaria will establish the world’s largest, independent sell-side advertising platform with scale, capabilities and solutions unmatched by the competition,” said Michael Barrett, President & CEO of Rubicon Project.
“This transformative combination builds on our commitment to trust and transparency and accelerates our strategy to provide buyers and sellers with a single path to every format and channel including CTV. We could not be more excited about the future as two individually strong industry leaders with complementary assets and cultures come together to create a market leader that we believe will generate significant opportunities for our employees, customers, partners, and stockholders worldwide,” Barrett added.
“Our businesses are highly complementary, and when combined, are a powerful, strategic alternative to the walled gardens, which have been frustrating both buyers and sellers due to their lack of transparency, innovation bottlenecks, and conflicted business models,” Telaria CEO, Mark Zagorski added.
“The two companies will provide more technology resources, a broader geographic footprint and deeper financial assets to attack the growing opportunity created by the shift from linear viewing to CTV to the benefit of our customers and in support of a thriving open internet. For our stockholders, we believe this merger allows us to accelerate our growth, while providing additional resources to increase investment and continue to scale our industry-leading CTV technology. For our employees, this is an opportunity for development and to fully realize the potential of what we have built these past few years in a scaled, omnichannel platform.”
As part of the merger, Rubicon Project will undergo a new name in the next few months. For the meantime, in the interim, both companies will continue to trade under their existing brand names.