Confirmed: Switch Buys Unanimis

ExchangeWire can confirm that UK-based ad trading platform Switch has bought ad sales house Unanimis for a publicly undisclosed fee in a deal that was executed earlier this week.

Financial details of the deal have not been publicly disclosed, but it will see Switch wholly acquire Unanimis Consulting, the trading name of the ad network, with Unanimis CEO Andrew Fawcett-Wolff now reporting to Tom Barnett, Switch, CEO.

Stuart Colman, Switch COO, confirmed the transaction with ExchangeWire, adding that currently there are: “no plans to ditch the Unanimis brand now or in the short term.” Although he did add that Switch was assessing how the two companies can move ahead as a combined entity.

Further commenting on the strategic decision to make the purchase, he added: “As it stands, nothing changes. If you look at both businesses they both have good relations with publishers, but in very different ways.

“Unanimis has a historical long-standing addressability [with publishers], which is something we didn’t have… Switch is historically a programmatic player… But Switch is now in a position where it can power some great transformations for the Unanimis business.”

Unanimis was established in 2001 and subsequently purchased by FT Orange in 2009, but Colman was unable to comment when asked if Switch had bought Unanimis directly from the pan-European mobile phone operator.

However, what can be said is that the Unanimis purchase now brings a raft of historic publisher relationships with a reach of 81% of the UK’s online audience, according to its website, to further spur Switch's growth plans. This is in addition to the Southampton-based company’s current raft of services, which include: RTB ADServer, Switch Demand, Switch DataInsights, Switch Service.

Switch, which was founded in 2008, and claims its ad server lets all media inventory supply sources to compete simultaneously to produce a more competitive marketplace.

A statement about the company on its website reads: “Traditional models are designed to fill direct campaigns first and then let an exchange, networks or remnant player try to fill whatever is left. This leads to a "race to the bottom" in terms of both the price your inventory fetches, and the quality of the ads served.

“As a result, the Switch RTB Adserver works like an auction house; every demand source bids at the same time, and the gavel lands for the person who bids the most - delivering the best possible price, every time,” reads the site.

Currently the company has tie-ups with AppNexus, MediaMath, Adfonic, Iponweb, Crimtan, IgnitionOne, SpotXchange, PubMatic, Admeld, Struq, myThings, Sociomantic, among others.