Houlihan Lokey Advises Bannerflow

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Bannerflow, a leader in creative automation for display advertising, has received an investment from Tenzing.

Founded in 2010 by Daniel Fahlén and Daniel Jacobsson and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Bannerflow is a cloud-based platform that enables marketing teams to take control of their digital advertising. It empowers teams to design, scale, publish, analyse, personalise, and optimise campaigns in-house. The platform seamlessly integrates with other major ad tech providers and supports a wide range of digital ad formats such as display, social, video, mobile, digital out-of-home, and CRM/onsite advertising. Bannerflow is one of Europe’s fastest-growing tech companies, having been recognised by Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 and the Financial Times’ FT 1000 since 2016. Trusted by leading brands, including Boozt, Elkjøp, Ellos, Hallon, and Meliá Hotels International, Bannerflow continues to invest in innovative ways to help customers succeed in digital marketing. In 2023, Bannerflow achieved an impressive ARR growth rate of 26% and maintained a profit margin above 20%.

Headquartered in London, with hubs in Munich and Stockholm, Tenzing backs European B2B software and tech-enabled businesses valued up to €300 million. Tenzing seeks to partner with niche market leaders with a track record of organic growth and high recurring revenue. Today, Tenzing has £1.7 billion AuM and 19 portfolio companies. The company’s namesake, Tenzing Norgay, the Nepalese mountaineer who guided Sir Edmund Hillary on the first ascent of Mount Everest, symbolises Tenzing’s commitment to guiding its portfolio businesses to the summit of their ambitions. The partnership is set to accelerate Bannerflow’s growth into key strategic markets, including the U.K. and U.S., and enable Bannerflow to enhance its innovative solutions further.

David Lundgren, CEO of Bannerflow, stated: “Since joining Bannerflow in late 2021, I have guided my management team to focus on building profitable and efficient growth, aiming for the well-known ‘Rule of 40.’ With our ambition and strategy to become a global CMP, Tenzing is the perfect partner for Bannerflow, given their experience in scaling businesses in the U.K. and U.S.”

Milan Kellner, Investment Lead at Tenzing, commented: “We’re delighted to partner with Bannerflow for our first Nordic investment. Throughout the process, we’ve been impressed with what has been built so far and see significant opportunities for growth and development through internationalisation, product expansion, and organic growth, amongst other avenues. We love the ambition of David and his team and look forward to sharing our knowledge and experience to accelerate growth further.”

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial sellside advisor to the shareholders of Bannerflow, supporting all relevant aspects of the transaction, including marketing, structuring of a competitive process, coordination of due diligence, and negotiating key deal terms. This deal highlights the firm’s strong sector expertise in the front-office software space. Other transactions in this sector include the sale of Optimizers to Orisha and the sale of BSI to Bregal.

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