The Israeli advertising technology company ironSource arrives on Wall Street in a SPAC deal worth $ 11.1 billion. Omar Kaplan, Deputy CEO: “All employees have options”
Members of the Iron Source Board: Photo by Adam Primer
The Israeli high-tech company IronSource is coming to Wall Street. The company will become public through a SPAC merger, that is, a merger with a stock exchange skeleton company, established specifically for this purpose. The deal reflects a value of $ 11.1 billion for Iron Source, a record amount for an Israeli high-tech company, and more than the recently published estimates.
Raises of $ 120 million, worth over $ 11 billion
ironSource was founded in 2010 by brothers Roy, Eyal and Itai Millard and Tomer Bar-Zeev, who joined another company founded by FoxTab, which developed a three-dimensional interface for tabs in Firefox. Over time, the company shifted its focus to mobile and installation engines with the InstallCore product, which made it possible to both install applications and manage advertising. Since then, the company has grown organically and inorganically with acquisitions like AfterDownload and the video technology company StreamRail.
Over the years, Iron Source has raised about $ 120 million, with investors such as the Viola Ventures Fund, the 83North Fund, Haim Saban, Claltech, the Disruptive Fund of investor Tal Barnuah, the advertisers Reuven Adler and Eyal Chomsky and more. In 2019, the company’s holders sold about 25 percent of their shares for $ 450 million to the CVC fund in a second transaction, which allowed them to meet the money earlier, without waiting for an IPO. The deal was made at a valuation of $ 1.7 billion at the time, which means that in about two years the company’s value jumped 6.5 times.
Some of the explanations for these multipliers are found in the company’s reports. Despite and perhaps following the corona, Iron Source enjoyed high profitability and grew in all indices. Among other things, the company notes revenues of $ 332 million, an increase of 83 percent compared to 2019 with an EBITDA margin of 31 percent – or $ 104 million. According to the company, its platform is embedded in 87% of the top 100 games in the world, and is considered one of the top three platforms.
The fund that acquired Impreva
Today (Sunday), the company announced its publicity through a merger with Thoma Bravo Advantage, a private equity fund, which has already made more than 300 investments in software, including the acquisition of the Israeli company Imeperva.
Tomer Bar-Zeev, CEO of Ironsors and one of its founders, said in response to the deal: “We are excited about the partnership with Thoma Bravo, one of the world’s leading software investors, on the way to the next stage in our story.” Bar Zeev added: “Although we have reached an advanced stage in the normal process of issuance to the public, when we met with Thoma Bravo we found that we have a great similarity in vision and a shared belief in the long-term growth we can drive in Ironsource, We will continue to concentrate on the task we have set for ourselves – to help mobile app and game developers grow as thriving businesses. “
Omar Kaplan, vice president and one of the founders of Iron Source, told Legitimate that the company was already on its way to a traditional IPO, when the founders met with Orlando Barbo, one of the founders of the investment fund: “We felt the connection with them is very strong and will help us along the way.” Kaplan also explains that the offering will not only benefit the founders or senior management, and explains that all employees in the company have options.
What is the next step after an IPO?
Kaplan: “We look at becoming a public company as an important step in the life of the company, but this is just the beginning. We plan to continue to build a leading global software company through our independent development and through acquisitions of additional companies that can expand the range of solutions we provide to application developers and mobile operators. ”
Shlomo Dovrat, founder and managing director of Viola Ventures and director at Ironsource, added: “This is a moment of great pride for us at Viola Ventures, and for me personally. A company in which we were the first institutional investor, is starting as a public company in a go-public deal, which is the largest in the technology sector in Israel. A spokeswoman added: “This deal is another marker in breaking the glass ceiling for Israeli technology companies that reach new sizes than we have known so far, and I believe this will have a significant impact on Israeli high-tech and economy in terms of employment, knowledge and ability to build global global companies.” .
Yaniv Avital
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