Israel’s Innovid approves $1.3 billion SPAC merger

Israeli ad delivery and measurement platform for connected TV Innovid, today announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement with ION Acquisition Corp. 2 Ltd. (NYSE: IACB), a $1.3 billion Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC). . The merger is scheduled to close in the last quarter of 2021, and the combined company, called Innovid, will trade on Wall Street. As part of the deal, ION Acquisition Corp 2, which has already raised $253 million, will be backed by $150 million in PIPE funding backed by major institutional investors including Fidelity Management and Research Company LLC, Baron Capital Group, Vintage and others including funds Affiliated with ION and Phoenix Insurance with a total capital of $403 million. Of this amount, $163 million will go to Innovid shareholders who sell shares, $200 million to company coffers, and $40 million to cover the expenses of this operation. The merger is proceeding at 8.5 times Innovid’s projected revenue of $130 million in 2022. After the merger, Innovid shareholders will retain a 64% stake in the combined company. Founded in 2008, Innovid is a leading independent software platform that provides critical technology infrastructure to create, deliver, and measure TV advertising across CTV, mobile TV and desktop TV. As the only ad server designed specifically for TV, Innovid has developed the first CTV SDK in the market. As the $200 billion television industry continues to shift to CTV, the company is well positioned to take a leadership role in a large, high-growth market. Innovid has raised $95 million to date from investors including Goldman Sachs, New Spring Capital, Sequoia Capital and Vintage. The company was founded by CEO Zvika Netter, Tal Chalusin and Zach Zigdon and has 365 employees, 85 of whom are in Israel. Netter said: “Innovid is entering an exciting new chapter of growth as a public company, a major milestone that aligns with the growing adoption and demand for streaming TV. The rapid shift in viewership from linear to live TV has prompted marketers to make CTV an investment focus strategy. Tailoring our technology specifically for TV has allowed us to win the market and has contributed to our rapid growth thus far.” He added, “As a public company, we anticipate that we will be able to build on our market leadership position, accelerate our business growth, and remain the independent platform that the world’s largest TV advertisers trust. We are proud to build an independent, impartial software platform to allow advertisers to create, deliver and measure digital TV ads. and aims to continue to provide the industry with an industry-leading and transparent view of the industry independent of the high-tech walled-garden players that dominate many other parts of the digital world.” Related Articles Israeli video advertising company Innovid is buying ION CEO Gilad Shani. Argentine company Herolens, Gilad Shani, CEO of ION, said, “We believe Innovid has created an exceptional platform for digital TV advertisers to assist them as they transition their $200 billion TV advertising budgets into the world of digital TV. We are excited to be involved in bringing Innovid to the public markets to provide a structure The right capital and shareholder base to enable Innovid to lead this market as an independent company.We were looking forward to the merger With an exceptional company with roots in the Israeli high-tech ecosystem, Innovid’s incredible achievements speak for themselves. The combination of the long-term partnerships the company has built throughout the CTV and OTT industry, their strong relationships with the world’s largest TV advertisers, unique ad serving technology and focus on a usage-based software business model, allows Innovid to deliver significant value to the digital TV advertising system. environment while achieving attractive unit economics as the company grows.” Innovid generated $69 million in revenue in 2020, of which 40% came from Smart TV, 43% from mobile devices and 18% from PCs. Revenue was $59 million in 2019 Revenue is expected to reach $95 million in 2021. The company made a net loss of $700,000 in 2020, compared to a net loss of $7.1 million in 2019. Published by Globes, Israeli business news – en.globes .co.il – On June 24, 2021 © Copyright Globes Publisher Itonut ( 1983) Ltd. 2021