DoubleVerify Expands EMEA Presence With Meetrics Acquisition

Germany-based Meetrics has been acquired by fellow ad verification outfit DoubleVerify (DV) which aims to expand its presence in EMEA after its multibillion-dollar IPO in early 2021. Financial terms of the transaction were not publicly disclosed although sources have cited the deal as a potential harbinger for a spate of further mergers and acquisitions following the recent glut of public listings in ad tech. Meetrics was founded in 2008 and has since raised $1.3 million in funding, according to Crunchbase. Sources indicate that its European footprint, where it has worked with clients including financial services outfit MoneySuperMarket and publisher Marie Claire, was the main attraction for DV. Berlin-headquartered Meetrics also helps brands verify their ad placements on the industry's leading walled gardens of Facebook and Google, plus it is also accredited by the Media Ratings Council—another unique distinction that likely proved lucrative. In a statement, Mark Zagorski, chief executive of DV, said, “Our strategy in support of this mission is to verify everywhere—across channels, formats, platforms and geographies. The Meetrics transaction fully supports this approach and bolsters our operating footprint in EMEA, adding experienced sales, product and engineering teams and tenured customer relationships that will continue to help accelerate the growth of our international business." Is more M&A in ad tech to come? Meetrics claimed the all-cash transaction will see its sales, product and engineering teams continue to operate alongside the existing DV teams with the company's co-founder and managing director Dr. Max von Hilgers, claiming the deal will help scale "our solution to better service our customers." Such sources also tip the recent flurry of IPOs and SPACs from ad-tech companies to spur a further round of M&A in the sector as such companies are compelled to pursue inorganic growth now that they are subject to the scrutiny of the public markets. The transaction marks DV's first as a public company. It currently has a market cap of more than $5 billion following its initial public offering in April, with market observers expecting ad verification companies to attempt to grow both in terms of geographies as well as expanding to new platforms. A notable recent example involves Integral Ad Science, a rival outfit to DoubleVerify in the ad verification sector, spending $220 million on Publica, a company that specializes in ad serving in the nascent connected TV sector, following its $2.2 billion IPO in July. DoubleVerify Extends Facebook Integration to New Premium Inventory Channels