Zynga agrees to acquire ad platform Chartboost for $250m

Social gaming giant Zynga has agreed a deal to acquire mobile programmatic advertising and monetisation platform Chartboost for approximately $250.0m (£179.8m/€207.8m).

Zynga will fund the purchase using cash, with the final upfront transaction consideration to also include customary closing adjustments.

Chartboost is a unified advertising platform that includes a demand side Platform, supply side Platform and mediation capabilities. The platform has more than 700 million monthly users and over 90 billion monthly advertising auctions.

Zynga said a combination with Chartboost would create a next generation platform offering content, direct player relationships, significant reach and full-stack advertising technology, which can be applied across its game portfolio and Chartboost’s advertising partners.

The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.

“Chartboost is one of the most dynamic monetisation and discovery platforms in mobile, and we could not be more excited to welcome their talented team to our company,” Zynga chief executive Frank Gibeau (pictured) said.

“By combining Zynga’s high-quality games portfolio and first-party data with Chartboost’s proven advertising and monetisation platform, we will create a new level of audience scale and meaningfully enhance our competitive advantage in the mobile ecosystem.”

Chartboost chief executive Rich Izzo added: “We are thrilled to join with Zynga to further build and expand our full stack advertising platform that will serve Zynga and the entire mobile ecosystem.

“Together, we share a vision of the future where a combined advertising, analytics and content platform will accelerate growth across both of our companies. Zynga already feels like family and an extension of our own company culture.”

Confirmation of the acquisition agreement comes as Zynga also published financial results for its first quarter.

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