PE Firm Acquires ​Simpli.fi; Facebook Pulls Trigger On Original Video

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PE Strikes Again

Private equity firm GTCR on Thursday snapped up a majority stake in Simpli.fi, the programmatic ad platform helmed by Frost Prioleau, for an undisclosed sum. “They’re stepping into the shoes of our existing shareholders,” including Prospect Partners, Prioleau tells AdExchanger. He added that GTCR, which also has a position in Cision, is poised to make further investments in the ad tech arena. Press release. Viva la roll-up!

Watch This

Facebook launched Watch on Thursday with original scripted and reality shows, sports content from broadcasters and video from publishers like Refinery29 and Tastemade. Eventually, “the teenager in her garage will be able to participate in this,” Facebook partnerships VP Dan Rose told Variety, signaling Watch’s future may be more YouTube than Netflix. Facebook is paying publishers to produce shows for now, but that won’t necessarily last, and publishers are already trying to get advertisers on board. Business Insider, Attn and Tastemade are talking to advertisers about branded programming, Digiday reports. Facebook plans to run mid-roll ads within Watch content. “We have extensive, ongoing interest from partners wanting to work with us on Facebook, period,” said Matthew Segal, co-founder of Attn. “I don’t see why that would preclude Watch.” More.

Can’t Touch This

Agency holding companies aren’t the only victims of the zero-based budgeting trend. Twitter and Snap could be hurt by a “looming advertising recession” in the US, according to Aegis Capital investor Victor Anthony, as advertisers pull spend from non-core buys. Facebook and Google, however, will be unscathed as they capture the majority of digital spend, which is driving advertising growth across markets. “We are at the early stages of an ad recession that is going to get worse for just about everyone not named Google and Facebook,” an agency source told Anthony. More at Barron’s.

But Wait, There’s More!

You’re Hired!

This post was syndicated from Ad Exchanger.