September 2017
Simpli.fi
GTCR has acquired a majority stake in Simpli.fi
Investor Will Support The Next Stage Of Growth For The Leading Platform For Local Programmatic Advertising
September 28, 2017 (New York, NY) – Petsky Prunier is pleased to announce it has advised Simpli.fi Holdings, Inc., the programmatic advertising platform built for the scale of localization and personalization, on its sale of a majority stake to GTCR. Simpli.fi’s leading programmatic platform enables the largest buyers of localized advertising, including local media groups and agencies, to execute high volumes of hyper-targeted campaigns across a variety of digital ad formats and device types. GTCR has partnered with Simpli.fi’s existing senior management team, which will maintain a significant minority ownership position, to recapitalize the business and to provide additional capital to support future acquisitions and organic growth initiatives.
Petsky Prunier previously advised Simpli.fi on its Series B growth investment led by Frontier Capital with participation from previous investors, including Contour Venture Partners. Both Frontier and Contour have exited their investment in this transaction.
Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, Simpli.fi is the leader in localized programmatic advertising. Simpli.fi works with the largest buyers of localized advertising, including brands, agencies, local media groups, networks, and trading desks. These companies utilize Simpli.fi to localize ad targeting and content, to deliver performance on high volumes of localized campaigns, and to provide deep insights on their dynamic audiences. As publishers increasingly rely on programmatic exchanges to monetize digital inventory, Simpli.fi’s unstructured audience data platform helps advertisers better target and connect with their customers.
Founded in 1980, GTCR is a leading private equity firm focused on investing in growth companies in the Growth Business Services, Technology, Media & Telecommunications, Healthcare, and Financial Services & Technology industries. The Chicago-based firm pioneered The Leaders Strategy™ – finding and partnering with management leaders in core domains to identify, acquire, and build market-leading companies through transformational acquisitions and organic growth. Since its inception, GTCR has invested more than $12 billion in over 200 companies.
Petsky Prunier, with a team led by Sanjay Chadda, Norm Colbert, and Marc Flor, served as financial advisor to Simpli.fi.