What happened
Digital advertising services provider Taboola.com (TBLA 3.86%) was a big hit with investors on Friday. The stock was rocketing 13% higher in midafternoon trading, on the back of a juicy acquisition announced that morning.
So what
Taboola said it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Connexity, a company that it says is one of the top independent e-commerce media platforms on the scene. The seller is private equity firm Symphony Technology Group, and the price is roughly $800 million, inclusive of retention payments.
Image source: Getty Images.
In its press release trumpeting the deal, the acquirer said that it "aligns with Taboola's 'Recommend Anything' growth strategy to introduce new types of recommendations and enter new segments, while leveraging its significant scale and recommendations platform."
Taboola clearly believes in growing through acquisitions; this is the fifth in the relatively brief history of the tech company. It said it will finance the Connexity deal with around $260 million in cash on hand, $300 million in debt financing that is already committed, and the remaining $240 million through an issue of Taboola's ordinary shares to Symphony Technology Group.
The deal is subject to approval from the relevant regulatory authorities. Taboola expects it to close during the current quarter.
Now what
Connexity appears to be a robust and growing business. Taboola said the company earned $176 million in revenue and $38 million in adjusted EBITDA last year; both figures were notably higher than the 2019 tallies. This, plus the highly complementary nature of Connexity's business, obviously struck a chord with investors Friday.
