SintecMedia to acquire Fund IV Portfolio co. Operative Media Inc. for ~US$200M

We are going to miss him, but Wellington Financial Fund IV portfolio co. CEO Lorne Brown will soon be leaving our fold.

This from The Wall Street Journal:

SintecMedia, an Israel-based company which provides media companies software designed to help them manage their advertising operations, has agreed to acquire Operative Media Inc., which licences similar technology to digital media companies.

The deal is valued at just under $200 million, the companies said.

SintecMedia is acquiring Operative with financial backing from the private equity firm Francisco Partners. Earlier this year, Francisco Partners agreed to fully acquire SintecMedia. Operative’s management team, including Chief Executive Lorne Brown, is also investing in the deal.

SintecMedia works with clients such as NBCUniversal and Walt Disney Co.’s ABC, while Operative works with budding digital media giants ranging from BuzzFeed to Vice Media. Both firms offer similar tools and services–essentially they sell software that helps media companies do everything from keeping track of their ad inventory to generating invoices and making sure that the right ads are delivered to the right outlets.

Back in March 2014, we provided a credit facility to this NY-based company.  Operative had the backing of NJ-based Edison Partners, Pembroke Capital and a very committed management team — led by Mr. Brown, the company’s founder.  All of which made the opportunity very straightforward for us.

As an increasing amount of advertising dollars move to digital outlets, firms such as Operative provide digital publishers, networks, and ad agencies a platform that helps them run the complex business of digital advertising with simplicity — from creating, selling and delivering products to billing clients and reporting.

Congrats to Lorne, the Board, VCs and the entire Operative team.

MRM