ShowHeroes Group Acquire PlayAd Media Group

The Swedish video solutions provider PlayAd Media Group, which is based in Stockholm and operates across Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, have been acquired by ShowHeroes Group, Europe’s leading independent provider of digital video solutions for publishers and advertisers. 

The announcement marks the date for ShowHeroes Group’s second M&A deal in 2021 and the fourth in total, following successful deals in Holland (Streamads), Italy (Viralize) and the UK (Union Media). It also renders its market launch in the Nordic countries, expanding beyond existing markets all over Europe. The acquisition increases ShowHeroes Group’s total monthly video impressions from 2.5 billion to 2.8 billion, with monthly unique users in Europe growing from 192 million to almost 220 million. 

Ilhan Zengin, founder and CEO, ShowHeroes Group: “Welcoming PlayAd into the ShowHeroes Group today, opens up a wide array of opportunities for all of our business partners and stakeholders. We are proud to be able to offer our semantic matching technology, paired with the largest library of high-quality video content and access to global demand for premium video advertising inventory to the Scandinavian markets. These attributes will perfectly complement PlayAd’s strong offering in the region and will help to secure its leading position across the Nordics. Vice versa, we as ShowHeroes are excited to be able to bring PlayAd’s excellent live-streaming and asset management solutions to our existing markets over the course of the next months.” 

All services offered to premium publishers and advertisers will be integrated into the ShowHeroes Group’s global brand “ShowHeroes” in 2022. All PlayAd solutions and the brand itself will continue to be offered and integrated into ShowHeroes Group’s roster of brands and offerings. 

Lars Blomberg, chairman and CEO, PlayAd Media Group adds: “Early on in the process with ShowHeroes Group, it became apparent that we shared visions for local publishers across all markets. Both companies have successfully built their business by combining ad tech, video content and monetisation, creating an attractive high-quality offering to publishers and advertisers alike. Teaming up with ShowHeroes Group and conjointly leveraging all the synergies we see, is definitely the right move for us. We couldn’t have asked for a better partner to continue challenging the status quo of the big tech companies and empower local journalism in the Nordics and across the globe together.”