Dutch Telecom Altice Has Reportedly Bought Formidable Ad-Tech Player Teads for $322 Million

Telecom giants continue to gobble up ad-tech players.

The latest of such acquisitions is Teads, a video advertising provider that has sold to Dutch telecom Altice for $322 million, according to a Business Insider on Monday night. UPDATE: The acquisition became official on March 21. At any rate, it’s the kind of data-based, mobile-minded marriage that’s become a trend in recent years, as telecoms look to combine their customer insights with the online ad-targeting capabilities provided by the likes of Teads.

For instance, on Feb. 23, Singtel bought Turn for $310 million. About 13 months ago, ad-tech firm Tapad sold to Telenor, a Norwegian telecom that spent $360 million on its acquisition. And then, of course, there is Verizon’s $4.4 billion purchase of AOL in recent years and its pending agreement to acquire Yahoo for a similar amount.

As BI noted, Altice is the fourth-largest broadband provider in the U.S., thanks to its $17.7 billion acquisition of Cablevision in 2016.

What moves it makes with France-based Teads’ technology will be worth watching. The formidable, five-year-old player reportedly racked up some $200 million in revenue last year.

Christopher Heine

@Chris_Heine

Christopher Heine is a New York-based editor and writer.