Yahoo to acquire BrightRoll for $640 million

Yahoo has announced it will buy digital video advertising service BrightRoll for $640 million.

The move would allow Yahoo to grow its video advertising platform, “making it the largest in the US”, the giant tech said.

BrightRoll does automated online video advertising for some of the world’s biggest brands and its net revenue is expected to exceed $100 million this year.

A jump in video advertising would also help offset Yahoo’s slowing growth and boost declining display ad revenues.

“Here at Yahoo, video is one of the largest growth opportunities, and BrightRoll is a terrific, strategic and financially compelling fit for our video advertising business,” said Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer in a statement on November 11.

Last month, Yahoo had reported that its Q3 revenue from ads fell by 5% from a year earlier. It has struggled to keep up with rivals like Google that have seen ad revenue grow by 17% in third quarter from a year ago.

The acquisition is also Yahoo’s first major purchase since receiving $9.4 billion in September from selling part of its stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.

News of the takeover comes after reports in October that said Yahoo was close to investing millions of dollars in mobile messaging startup Snapchat.

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