WPP increases stake in ad tech firm AppNexus
Advertising agency giant WPP has increased its stake in ad tech firm AppNexus in a bid to take on Google in the ad serving space.
WPP has injected US$25m into the company, which it claims is the world’s largest independent ad tech provider.
In August the New York based startup got a $60m investment from an equity firm, which valued the company at $1.2bn, although the deal announced overnight puts the value of the company at substantially less with WPP taking around 15 per cent equity in the business.
The acquisition will see WPP’s programmatic trading arm Xaxis hive off its ad serving business, Xaxis for Publishers, into AppNexus.