Bain Sells Kantar's SRDS to Ad Tech Firm

Private equity firm Bain Capital has sold Kantar's SRDS (Standard Rate & Data Service) to French ad tech company Adwanted Group. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

SRDS is used by advertising agencies and brands to find and compare online and traditional media across business and consumer audiences; and by media sellers to communicate their proposition and offer multi-channel programs. In 2018, Adwanted USA entered into an exclusive strategic partnership with Kantar Media, to license SRDS data on 6,700 US B2B and consumer magazines and integrate this data with the Adwanted platform. The deal marked the first time SRDS subscribers were able to execute media buys with legacy media, in addition to conducting campaign research and planning, all on one digital platform.

Following the acquisition, SRDS will retain its brand name, and all current employees will also be kept on. Adwanted Group CEO Emmanuel Debuyck (pictured) comments: 'Merging SRDS with Adwanted creates a compelling new product where customers can not only select and compare media opportunities, but now they can also purchase media quickly with just a few clicks. Acquiring a company that's more than a hundred years old in such a fast-changing environment is a great opportunity. This isn't a subscription revenue cash machine for us - we want to help this business grow'.

The deal follow's Bain Capital's recent acquisition of a 60% stake in Kantar from WPP, which retains the other 40%.

Web sites: www.adwanted.com and www.srds.com .