News Corp sells programmatic video marketplace Unruly to Tremor International

Tremor International is to acquire Unruly, News Corp’s programmatic video marketplace.

In a statement, News Corp said the transaction is expected to be financially beneficial for both Tremor International and News Corp:

News Corp is receiving 6.91% of Tremor International stock, subject to an 18-month lock up period and to certain adjustments, along with a total minimum revenue guarantee for News Corp of GBP 30m for the partnership.

The deal marks the start of a three-year partnership with News Corp which will equip Tremor with the exclusive right to sell outstream video on more than 50 News Corp titles in the UK, US and Australia. Tremor International will also benefit from Unruly’s 2,000+ direct publisher integrations and unique demand relationships with the world’s biggest advertisers.

Rebekah Brooks, UK CEO and Norm Johnston, CEO at Unruly, are intended to join the board of directors of Tremor International in the near future. [News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller formerly sat on the Unruly board.]

Norm Johnston

“With this deal, Unruly and the relationship with News Corp bolster Tremor International’s supply side platform, giving us a global footprint and allowing us to more rapidly take our recently acquired RhythmOne offering to an international market,” said Ofer Druker, CEO of Tremor International.

Norm Johnston, CEO of Unruly said: “Unruly will benefit from Tremor’s wide range of formats, including advanced TV and In-App, as well as an analytics suite and yield optimisation tools. Together we’ll bring the power of emotions to video advertising to drive better results for advertisers, higher levels of engagement for consumers and more revenue for publishers. We are also grateful for the opportunity for Unruly to continue partnering with News Corp and its businesses around the world, with whom we have worked so closely and productively for years. And News Corp benefits from the transaction both financially and by having found a partner to take Unruly forward and drive digital outstream revenues.”

Robert Thomson, chief executive of News Corp, said, “The sale of Unruly marks an important step in our strategy of simplification at News Corp, while we expect it to yield ongoing financial benefits. We look forward to partnering with Tremor and are grateful to Unruly and its truly talented team, who have helped our businesses in the UK, US and Australia advance their digital advertising expertise.”

Tremor International is headquartered in Israel and maintains offices throughout the US and Canada, Asia-Pacific, Europe, India and Latin America, and is traded on the London Stock Exchange.