ISRAEL 
HIGH-TECH & INVESTMENT REPORT

from the January 2008 issue


Ybrant acquires Israeli ad firm Oridian

Hyderabad, India-based Ybrant Technologies said it agreed to acquire online advertising company Oridian for $13 million.

The move comes as digital marketing dollars are forecast to quadruple in India in the next three years as companies step up their online advertising efforts to reach customers.

"We understand the various elements that go into creating, developing, and maintaining customer relationships online," Ybrant Chairman M Suresh Reddy told reporters in Hyderabad.

Oridian is a Israeli, privately held company owned by CEO Jacob Nizri as well as venture capital firms Challenge, Infinity Fund, and Invitech, which injected $6.3 million in 2001.

Ybrant, a digital marketing company, works with such customers as Yahoo, Terra-Lycos, Capitals One's PeopleFirst, and MediaRing, among others.

The eight-year-old startup clocked revenue of $20 million last year. In a similar Internet advertising network business as Ybrant, Oridian provides advertising services to more than 1,000 global web sites with more than 10 billion ad impressions per month and works with more than 500 global advertisers.

"This synergy will bring 60 employees of Oridian into the Ybrant fold, taking its total to 320. Besides, it enables Ybrant to enter new markets including Germany, the U.K., France, Argentina, Australia, Scandinavia, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands," Mr. Reddy said.

$1 million has been paid to a trust account of Oridian for the definitive agreement, $2.5 million is due at the deal's close in a week. Globally, the digital marketing space is pegged at $35 billion, while it is at $40 million in India and is expected to touch $160 million in the next three years.

That's good news for Ybrant, which is planning further acquisitions. The company has lined up three more companies in the lead generation, co-generation, and search engine operations in the United States and the European Union. It plans to tap capital markets to fund the deals.

In November of last year, Ybrant acquired Colorado-based MediosOne, an Internet advertising network. That deal was followed by the acquisition of U.S.-based online advertising company AdDynamix for $10 million in February of this year. In April, it acquired Serbia-based Seenetix and its product VoLoMP (an email marketing platform) for an undisclosed sum.



Reprinted from the Israel High-Tech & Investment Report January 2008

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