Amobee closes deal for Videology assets, plans to keep Baltimore office

A marketing technology company announced on Tuesday that it completed the acquisition of Videology‘s assets, and plans to keep a presence in Baltimore.
Amobee, a subsidiary of Singapore communications company Singtel, won an auction in July to acquire the the Baltimore-founded video advertising startup, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year.

Amobee completes acquisition of assets from Videology, expanding its advanced TV and video advertising capabilities. https://t.co/d2oHuqQJwY pic.twitter.com/BKjpPv3rHn

— Amobee (@amobee) August 28, 2018

Silicon Valley–based Amobee emerged as a bidder when Videology declared bankruptcy in May. At the auction, a competing bid was submitted by U.K.–based ITV Broadcasting Limited that could’ve resulted in a management buyout and relocation of headquarters to London, Video Ad News reported. But Amobee emerged as the winner. The purchase price was listed at about $101 million.
Now Videology will be integrated into Amobee’s brand and wider offering of digital marketing technology, with Amobee CEO Kim Perell saying the tech “gives our clients a next generation approach to reach and engage customers on a global scale across multiple devices and screens.”
With the acquisition deal, Videology founder and former CEO Scott Ferber is joining Amobee as Chief Innovation Officer. Amobee also recently appointed former IBM Watson executive Domenic Venuto as COO, and Erica Golden, former head of Global Talent Development at Apple, as Chief People Officer.
Despite the remaining appeal of its technology that brought adtech to video, Videology had business struggles in recent years. The company was one of several startups to pick up Baltimore’s early-stage adtech banner following the $435 million acquisition of Baltimore-based Advertising.com, which Ferber also cofounded. Founded in 2007, Videology grew to 400 employees after raising more than $120 million in venture funding, and was the subject of IPO speculation.
But the company struggled to overcome declining sales in its initial video ad “demand side platform” business as it faced competition from advertising giants, documents included with the bankruptcy filing state. A shift to focus on advertising in “advanced television,” which included helping a company with long-term planning and management of advertising across multiple platforms, led to growing revenue in that area, but it was not enough to offset the losses that mounted over five years. GroupM, the largest creditor listed in the bankruptcy filings, was owed $35 million. Prior to the bankruptcy filing, the company laid off 5-6 percent of its workforce, The Drum reported at the time. Ferber said at the time of the bankruptcy filing that digital change was slower to come in the TV market than expected.
Videology’s Baltimore office will remain following the acquisition, according to Amobee. The company said that “the majority” of Videology employees are staying on, but did not provide numbers. The McHenry Row space had about 100 employees as of May, and the company had a total of 225 employees at that time.
“Together with Amobee, we’ll carry on Videology’s mission to transform TV with the ability to grow faster and deliver more powerful solutions to our clients and partners,” Ferber said in a statement. “Videology has the vision, technology and great roster of talent; with Amobee, we have the resources to execute and achieve scale,” Ferber said. “We look forward to remaining part of Baltimore’s growing tech scene.”