Blackstone Announces Significant Investment in Simpli.fi, a Leading Programmatic Advertising Platform, at $1.5 Billion Valuat...
June 28 2021 - 6:30AM
Business Wire
Investment to accelerate Simpli.fi’s next stage of growth and
innovation
Blackstone (NYSE:BX) announced today that private equity funds
managed by Blackstone (“Blackstone”) have entered into a definitive
agreement to make a significant equity investment in Simpli.fi
(“Simpli.fi” or the “Company”), a leader in programmatic
advertising and agency management software. Blackstone will join
existing investor GTCR, a leading private equity firm, as majority
shareholders in the Company. The investment, which would be made
through Blackstone’s flagship private equity vehicle, values the
company at approximately $1.5 billion.
Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, Simpli.fi is dedicated to
helping media buying organizations perform more effectively and
efficiently. Simpli.fi’s full suite of mission critical workflow
and ad buying software enables agencies and media groups to manage
their core operations and execute high ROI media spend through
digital ad campaigns. Each month, the Company’s innovative CTV and
mobile programmatic advertising platform powers over 120,000
campaigns for 30,000 active advertisers.
GTCR acquired a majority interest in the Company in 2017 and,
alongside co-founders Frost Prioleau and Paul Harrison, has helped
build Simpli.fi into a scaled and rapidly growing platform that
uniquely serves the needs of independent advertising agencies and
local advertisers. Blackstone’s investment will enable the Company
to further accelerate innovation and organic growth initiatives as
well as to continue executing on its targeted acquisition strategy.
The investment from Blackstone is a continuation of its thematic
focus on high quality digital advertising technology platforms and
follows its recent investments in Liftoff and Vungle.
"We are thrilled to partner with Blackstone as we pursue the
next stage of growth for Simpli.fi," said Mr. Prioleau, who has
served as Simpli.fi's CEO since its inception. "Blackstone’s depth
of capabilities and expertise are a great complement to those of
GTCR, and their investment is a validation of the fantastic work
done by our team members to get us to this point." Mr. Harrison
said: “When our team created Simpli.fi’s core technology, we
understood the influence and impact it would have on our industry.
We’re ecstatic that Blackstone shares that vision and is a welcomed
addition to our great partnership with GTCR.”
Sachin Bavishi, a Managing Director at Blackstone, said:
“Simpli.fi’s highly differentiated technology platform and superior
customer service have made it a clear leader in its space. Digital
advertising is a high-conviction investment theme at Blackstone and
Simpli.fi sits at the intersection of multiple attractive
tailwinds, including the continued shift in local media spend to
programmatic digital and CTV. We are very excited to partner with
the management team and GTCR to further accelerate the Company’s
growth.” Martin Brand, Head of North American Private Equity at
Blackstone and Global Co-Head of Technology Investing, added:
“Simpli.fi has a long runway for future growth led by its talented
founders and we look forward to contributing Blackstone’s resources
to support the Company’s rapid growth trajectory.”
Craig Bondy, a Managing Director at GTCR, said: “We want to
congratulate the entire Simpli.fi team on their accomplishments
over the last three and a half years. Since we partnered with Frost
and Paul, Simpli.fi has achieved impressive growth through new
product investment and strategic acquisitions. We believe strongly
in Simpli.fi’s future and look forward to continued growth.”
Stephen Master, a Principal at GTCR added: “We are delighted to
partner with Blackstone in the next phase of growth and innovation
for Simpli.fi. Their domain expertise, shared vision for success
and fresh perspectives will help accelerate management’s goal of
becoming the leading software platform for independent advertising
agencies and media buying organizations.”
Blackstone and GTCR will have equal representation on the
Simpli.fi Board of Directors.
Evercore and LUMA Partners served as financial advisors, and
Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to Simpli.fi and
GTCR. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal advisor to
Blackstone.
About Simpli.fi
Simpli.fi is a leading provider of workflow software and
programmatic advertising solutions, serving over 1400 agencies,
advertisers, and media buying organizations. Our solutions enable
our customers to perform more effectively and efficiently, and to
maximize ROI on their advertising spend across CTV, mobile,
display, and other media types. Our platform delivers performance
on budgets of all sizes, executing over 120,000 campaigns for
30,000 advertisers in a typical month. For more information please
visit our website at www.simpli.fi
About Blackstone
Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We
seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our
investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which
we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible
capital to help companies solve problems. Our $649 billion in
assets under management include investment vehicles focused on
private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, life sciences,
growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real
assets, and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further
information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone
on Twitter @Blackstone
About GTCR
Founded in 1980, GTCR is a leading private equity firm focused
on investing in growth companies in the Growth Business Services,
Technology, Media & Telecommunications, Healthcare and
Financial Services & Technology industries. The Chicago-based
firm pioneered The Leaders Strategy™ – finding and partnering with
management leaders in core domains to identify, acquire and build
market-leading companies through transformational acquisitions and
organic growth. Since its inception, GTCR has invested more than
$20 billion in over 250 companies. For more information, please
visit www.gtcr.com.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210628005405/en/
For Blackstone: Matt Anderson Matthew.Anderson@Blackstone.com
518-248-7310
For Simpli.fi: Katie McGovern SHIFT Communications
simpli.fi@shiftcomm.com 609.206.1082
For GTCR: Kellie Kennedy The Harbinger Group
kelliek@theharbingergroup.com 312.933.4903
Blackstone (NYSE:BX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Blackstone (NYSE:BX)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024