Adconion Buys Frontline Direct

Adconion Media Group, a Germany-based online advertising network, has acquired Frontline Direct, a Las Vegas-based provider of data management and direct marketing solutions. The deal is valued at $20 million in cash and stock, with KPMG Corporate Finance serving as advisor to Frontline Direct. Adconion last week announced that it has raised the equivalent of $80 million in Series C funding from Index Ventures and Wellington Partners.

PRESS RELEASE

Adconion Media Group, the global independent online advertising network, today announced it has acquired Frontline Direct, a leading data management and direct marketing solutions provider for $20 million in cash and equity. Frontline has longstanding relationships with leading companies — including ConsumerInfo.com, Inc., an Experian(R: 57.01, -1.39, -2.38%) company and Reunion.com — as well as top interactive advertising agencies.

“Beginning with my days as one of the first employees of Avenue A and through the founding of Adconion the vision has always been to enable advertising agencies and marketers to reach the same consumer across platforms,” said Tyler Moebius, founder and chief executive officer of Adconion. “Integrating Frontline’s technology with our own and taking it global as part of our independent network is a significant step towards that goal.”

The acquisition of Frontline, including its proprietary data management technology, email products and 25 employees, fuels Adconion’s rapid expansion into North America, including the planned opening of a new office in San Diego; Adconion currently has offices in New York and Toronto in addition to North American headquarters in Santa Monica. Globally, Frontline further enhances Adconion’s offering of global performance branded solutions to advertising agencies and marketers worldwide, including audience targeting, video and email.

“Adconion arms agencies with the technology solutions necessary to compete in the evolving media and advertising landscape, and we recognize that audience targeting is an important element of campaigns that advertising agencies are designing on behalf of their clients’ brands,” said Keith Kaplan, Adconion’s president of North America. “Nevertheless, we are extremely committed to respecting personal privacy; we already adhere to the stringent European privacy standards and will continue to respect those high standards wherever we do business.”

“Adconion is technologically and strategically a natural partner for Frontline,” said Kim Reed Perell, chief executive officer of Frontline Direct. “As part of Adconion’s independent global network we can instantly enhance our existing offerings for our clients and enable them to reach a much broader audience both here in the U.S. and abroad.”

Frontline Direct was represented by KPMG Corporate Finance in the transaction