Houlihan Lokey Advises 605
Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that 605, LLC (605) has been acquired by iSpot.tv, Inc. (iSpot). This transaction strengthens iSpot’s currency and end-to-end offerings for brands, agencies, and networks while expanding its talent roster and big TV data footprint.
iSpot.tv, the leading TV ad measurement company used by top advertisers, networks, and platforms, announced the acquisition of next-generation measurement and attribution company 605. The deal brings together two of the leading independent TV measurement companies with a significant customer footprint across brands, TV networks, and streaming publishers.
The acquisition of 605 immediately bolsters iSpot’s measurement solutions for video and TV advertising effectiveness—especially in the areas of business outcome attribution, advanced audience measurement, media planning, and data-science-managed services.
“605 has developed an impressive technology architecture, a great approach to using big data, and a suite of powerful solutions that nicely complement our own,” says Sean Muller, Founder and CEO of iSpot. “We are excited to integrate their world-class team of engineers and data scientists in our mission to modernize measurement effectiveness and new currencies.”
With the acquisition, iSpot will add set-top box data from 16.6 million homes to its industry-leading smart TV data footprint, bringing iSpot’s total available TV device footprint to 82.7 million. The combined datasets, which include smart TV data from VIZIO and LG, will serve as a critical foundation for delivering accurate, representative measurements and new currencies to the TV marketplace.
“We launched 605 seven years ago with the idea that high-quality data and advanced analytics would make television advertising even more effective, from planning and segmentation all the way through to attribution and, now, prediction. During a time of profound change in our industry, I could not be more proud of the team for delivering on that promise,” said Kristin Dolan, Founder of 605 and, today, the CEO of AMC Networks. “iSpot has built a large and loyal customer base, particularly with large brand advertisers, and is a pioneer in the measurement space. I can’t wait to see the things this powerful combination of technology and talent can achieve and bring to a growing array of clients and partners under iSpot’s leadership.”
605 brings iSpot innovative solutions broadly adopted by TV networks that will immediately augment offerings to its sizable-brand business. These include best-in-class business outcome attribution solutions that measure effectiveness against CPG sales, auto sales, credit card, location, search, and survey KPIs. Capabilities also include a powerful planning and optimization platform, advanced audience segmentation, and predictive analytics capabilities powered by machine learning.
All 85 employees of 605 will be joining iSpot, bolstering the iSpot talent pool and bringing the total employee count to 464. In the immediate term, 605 will continue to operate as an iSpot company, building and supporting 605 solutions. The companies will work together to integrate all products under a single offering that utilizes a unified data spine and technology infrastructure for all measurement and currency offerings.
The combined technologies will accelerate the delivery of innovative solutions for brands and programmers, most notably in predictive AI technologies that leverage proprietary data assets for better forecasting, planning, optimization, and results reporting.
The acquisition is iSpot’s fourth in five years and the largest to date. Parties are not disclosing the terms of the deal.
Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to 605. This transaction underscores the team’s deep domain expertise and continued success advising clients in the measurement and attribution sector. Financial terms were not disclosed.
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