Private equity has (once again) entered the chat.
According to Bloomberg, a consortium led by Vista Equity Partners and Quinti Capital has submitted a takeover bid for commerce media adtech company Criteo. The bid reportedly values the company at more than a 50% premium to its share price, though Criteo has not yet decided how to respond. Criteo’s shares jumped more than 20% following the report.
And you thought it was going to be a sleepy, post-July 4th Monday. Never!
Why This Matters:
Criteo has spent the last several years transforming itself from a cookie-based retargeting company (not sexy) into a commerce media and retail media platform (much sexier). That evolution recently expanded into AI when the company announced an integration with OpenAI, giving its advertisers access to ChatGPT ads. (Criteo was the first adtech partner announced, by the way.)
While that business is still in its early stages, it positions Criteo at the intersection of retail media, commerce, and AI-powered advertising. That’s likely part of what makes the company attractive to potential buyers.
It’s also worth noting that Criteo has faced challenges as a public company. While the stock is up year to date, it has traded near historic lows, and shares plummeted following the company’s first-quarter earnings report.
Experts React:
Speaking of Criteo, a new Marketecture interview with Criteo President of Performance Media and Chief Product Officer Todd Parsons was posted today. Well-timed, right? (Conspiracy theorists, now is your time.)
On the pod, Parsons discusses the company’s AI strategy, its push into self-serve with Criteo GO, and its growing focus on mid-market and SMB. Those initiatives point to where Criteo sees its next phase of growth, and could be a few of the reasons the company is attractive to potential suitors.
Our Take:
Could this also be a sign that private equity is warming back up to adtech? IAS, for example, was taken private by Novacap earlier this year. Of course, there’s no indication Criteo will accept the offer—or that a deal will happen at all—but if it does, it could suggest private equity sees an opportunity in public adtech companies whose valuations don’t fully reflect their long-term potential, especially as AI becomes a bigger part of the advertising business.
