Strengthens Company Market Share and Brings Scale to Advertising Business Management Category
NEW YORK – Operative, the advertising business management company, announced it has acquired Solbright, a pioneer in digital advertising operations solutions. Founded in 1999 and based in New York City, Solbright is a leading provider of revenue and workflow operations software that currently helps leading websites to manage their online advertising. The deal strengthens Operative’s market position as the company estimates its solutions now manage more than 30 percent of digital advertising spend, and counts half of the top 50 online media leaders as clients. Terms were not disclosed.
“Having entered the digital ad operations market on the ground floor, Solbright’s ultimate goal has always been to establish the company as a leading innovator in the space,” said Tom Pace, President and CEO, Solbright. “Today’s announcement marks a significant milestone in that journey, as we recognized a tremendous opportunity to influence the market by joining Operative’s strengths with ours. With more than 200 customers now looking to Operative to meet their digital advertising needs, we are well-poised to become the standard business infrastructure supporting media industry leaders of today and tomorrow.”
Earlier this month Operative launched Operative.One, the first advertising business management platform to deliver freedom from the complexities of the digital value chain by integrating all processes and systems necessary to package, sell, traffic, manage, optimize and bill ads. Operative.One provides media companies and their partners with end-to-end business transparency, resulting in a boost in operational efficiencies and reduction in transaction costs. Resources from the combined companies will manage upgrades to Operative.One for joint clients throughout 2011.
“Joining forces with Solbright gives us the critical mass to solidify our position within cross-platform digital advertising,” said Mike Leo, CEO and President of Operative. “This powerful combination enables Operative to truly deliver the enterprise-class infrastructure media companies require to effectively and efficiently run their business. I am excited to work with a team of this caliber to further our commitment to enabling client success in our ever-evolving marketplace.”
The acquisition augments Operative’s current product development and client services functions with 11 years of deep domain expertise in digital advertising operations. Solbright employees will immediately play an integral role in the continued development of Operative.One while also ensuring business continuity for existing clients. This increased scale will benefit the combined client base through:
– Delivery of broader and deeper integrations with demand and supply-side systems
– Acceleration of Operative.One product innovation in the areas of analytics and enhanced cross-platform support
– A robust Digital Media Index that provides access to actionable insights on industry pricing and spending trends
– Enhancements to an already high level of client service and support
“As media companies depend more and more on revenue from digital advertising, solving the difficult problem of integrating the variety of platforms in the digital ecosystem becomes critical to their businesses,” said Andrew Frank, Research Vice President with Gartner’s Media research team. “Both Operative and Solbright are strong forces in the digital advertising space, so I’m encouraged that this deal can create the kind of scale necessary to bring a comprehensive solution to the market.”
About Operative
Established in 2000, Operative (www.operative.com) is the advertising business management company that gives media industry leaders and their partners the freedom to move fast and forward with solutions that eliminate complexities within the advertising ecosystem. Through the alignment of people, process and technology, Operative.One brings together the business processes and systems necessary to package, sell, traffic, manage, optimize and collect revenue on advertising products. More than 200 industry leaders, representing more than 30 percent of digital advertising revenue, rely on Operative, including The Wall Street Journal, MSN, Smart Money, NBC Universal and National Public Media. Operative is headquartered in New York City.
