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Japan’s FreakOut Holdings has acquired Playwire, an internet video company that provides free and paid video players for independent video publishers.
Tokyo-based FreakOut Holdings is a digital advertising company that was founded in 2010 by Yuzuru Honda. It now has subsidiaries in 16 countries throughout the Asia Pacific region, and it offers programmatic advertising technology that expands access to advertising demand for its customer base.
Deerfield, Florida-based Playwire serves six billion video and display ads a month to its 450 web site partners using Playwire’s proprietary Complete Monetization Platform and Revenue Intelligence technology. Jayson Dubin, CEO of Playwire, described Playwire in the past as an alternative to YouTube.
Through its purchase of Playwire, FreakOut will unlock access to English-speaking markets throughout the globe, while Playwire benefits from FreakOut’s premium Asian media partners. Additionally, the purchase brings complementary technology from each company together, forging a unique digital advertising supply chain that guarantees optimal advertising revenue for web publishers.
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Above: Playwire has its Complete Monetization Platform for mid-tier video publishers.
“I’m thrilled that this acquisition allows Playwire to share its innovative technology and reach with a larger global audience,” said Dubin, who will continue to manage the day-to-day operations of the company, in a statement. “By joining forces with our Asian counterpart FreakOut, we have become one of the largest global media and technology companies in the world for digital advertising. We look forward to working together with the FreakOut team to create strategic synergies by mutually leveraging our group assets across North America, Europe, and Asia.”
The companies said they share a vision of letting web publishers do what they do best – create great content – by freeing publishers from the ever-increasing technical complexities of implementing digital advertising.
Through the intelligent use of technology, the companies promote brand safety, protect against fraud, and locate ads that deliver the best experience for the advertiser, publisher, and viewer.
“We are excited to have Playwire as part of our group and are committed to boost growth worldwide,” said Handa San, FreakOut CEO, in a statement. “With the full resources of both FreakOut and Playwire, we will build our presence in a global market together.”
The deal was brokered by Bankers DCS Advisory and the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Dubin founded the company as Intergi Entertainment in 2007, and it was rebranded Playwire in 2014. Playwire has 75 employees, and Dubin said the company will retain them all. To date, Playwire raised $800,000.
As for the timing, Dubin said in an email, “We decided to sell to help the early investors get a liquidity event, as well as find a company similar to Playwire that could help us grow both from a tech offering but also bring us into global markets we were currently not servicing.”
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