RTL buys video advertising firm Smartclip for €47m

RTL Group has agreed to buy a 93.75% shareholding in online video advertising firm Smartclip for €46.9 million.

RTL, which also takes a call option to acquire the remaining shares, said that the deal would “significantly strengthen” its position as a major sales house for video advertising.

“Smartclip will move us forward on two fronts: online video reach and technology. Together we will grow our share in a market that will double by 2020, according to forecasts,” said Matthias Dang, managing director of IP at Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland’s advertising sales house.

RTL will buy Smartclip’s businesses in Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia and Italy. The ad firm’s businesses in Spain and Latin America are not part of the deal, but will continue to license Smartclip’s technology and brand.

Smartclip was founded in 2008, bundles the online video advertising inventory of 700 publishers around the world and manages the integration and serving of video advertising across different internet-connected devices.

RTL said that Smartclip complements its investments in digital advertising sales, particularly SpotX, the US programmatic online video advertising business that RTL Group paid €107 million for a 65% majority stake in back in 2014.

“In Germany the reach of our portfolio, and thus our advertising inventory, will grow substantially with this acquisition. At the same time it will strengthen our technological capabilities in Europe and offers opportunities globally for innovation in cooperation with SpotX,” said Anke Schäferkordt, CEO of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland.

The deal is subject to approval from Germany’s Federal Cartel Office.