The RTL group acquires the British video streaming technology company Yospace

Yospace's solution provides seamless, targeted advertising insertion into streaming services. The acquisition is key to further growing the RTL group's global ad-tech and streaming business.

The Luxembourg group RTL Group has signed an agreement to acquire control from the British video technology company Yospace.

Yospace has developed one of the most advanced technologies for server-side dynamic ad insertion (SSDAI, for its acronym in English) that allows the replacement of existing spots of a broadcast flow with more personalized and targeted advertising. SSDAI is expected to become the de facto standard for seamlessly serving banner ads in high-quality streaming environments.

At its core, Yospace's innovative technology delivers the right advertising, at the right time, according to standards set by media owners. Yospace's technology currently serves major media owners in Europe, the United States and Asia. Among his Clients include BT Sport, TV4, ITV and Seven West Media.

Yospace focuses on the premium streaming segment, which is also the fastest growing and most important market for RTL Group's global ad-tech company, SpotX. This market segment includes video on demand (VOD) and live video that is streamed to any Internet-connected device. As a result, the acquisition of Yospace complements RTL Group's advanced technology stack by securing a key technology that can win, retain and scale high-quality media customers, including RTL Group's broadcasters and streaming services.

Bert Habets, CEO of RTL Group, states that "the acquisition of Yospace is an important step in the development of our total video product portfolio and will help drive two strategic objectives at the same time. First, we gain a competitive, fully integrated and profitable solution, which is the key to further growing our technology advertising business. Our goal is to continue expanding SpotX to become a leading independent monetization platform for broadcasters, video on demand services and publishers.

On the other hand, this acquisition will also help build local streaming champions in markets where we have strong channel families. “Yospace’s technology makes advertising on streaming services more personal, which means a better consumer experience and better monetization of our premium advertising inventory.”

Tim Sewell, CEO of Yospace, highlights that "our customers make significant investments in their video offerings and content licensing. Yospace has proven that it can provide unrivaled quality of service even with millions of simultaneous users. This new relationship with RTL Group will not only allow us to expand our customer base to all entities of the largest European broadcast and video network, but RTL Group is also fully committed to supporting the development of our services to offer more innovative products to media owners around the world."

RTL Group will pay up to $33 million (approximately €29 million) before cash and debt adjustments related to the full acquisition of Yospace, including upfront and performance-related components.

Under the terms of the transaction, RTL Group will appoint three of the five members of Yospace's Board of Directors. Tim Sewell, CEO of Yospace, and David Springall, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), will continue to lead the company's day-to-day operations, reporting to the Board of Directors.