Perion Networks buys Canadian ad tech co Hivestack

Israeli digital ad company Perion Network (Nasdaq: PERI; TASE: PERI) announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Canadian company Hivestack for $100 million in cash and up to $25 million more in cash and shares based on meeting milestones and keeping senior executives at the company for at least three years. These milestones include accumulated EBITDA of $56 million and US$212 million of contribution ex-TAC in aggregate during 2024 through 2026.

Perion has more than $500 million cash in its coffers and CEO Tal Jacobson promises that there will be more acquisitions in the future.

Perion provides multi-channel advertising technology that delivers solutions for advertising in web searches. Hivestack is a full-stack, marketing technology that will bring Perion into a new digital advertising channel – programmatic digital out-of-home (DOOH) – which is a market currently worth $21.5 billion annually and is expected to grow to $30.7 billion by 2026.

Jacobson says, “Advertising outside of the home has existed for 200 years but we are taking old formats and making them digital and this is a category that has become very technological. Beyond digital screens, there is technology based on data, targeting and more.”

The technology can adapt the location of an ad based on demographic data statistics and provides solutions for both advertisers and screen owners (real estate companies on whose assets the screen is located, shopping malls etc.). Jacobson gives an example of one of Hivestack’s ad campaigns for a beer brand called Hazy, which advertises only when the weather is misty or hazy.

Jacobson adds that Hivestack works mainly in Asia and Europe, while Perion is stronger in the US. Hivestack was founded in 2017 in Montreal and has 154 employees worldwide.

Perion’s share price fell 2.04% on Nasdaq yesterday to $27.31, giving a market cap of $1.3 billion and is 4.76% higher in premarket trading.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on December 12, 2023.

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