Mobile search and advertising company Call Genie acquired the assets of US-based data analytics and mobile advertising network VoodooVox on Wednesday.
Toronto-listed Call Genie is issuing 11.25 million shares of its stock, currently valued at C$0.10 each, to VoodooVox’ shareholders, together with an additional $1.8m in cash issued from future Call Genie profits, as payment.
VoodooVox had raised more than $9.4m since its inception, with investors including Disney-affiliated Steamboat Ventures, the Softbank-affiliated VC firm Softbank Capital, venture capital (VC) firm Village Ventures, private equity investment group Apax Partners and VC fund Berkshires Capital Investors. As a result of the deal, SoftBank Capital becomes a new shareholder in Call Genie.
The acquisition will involve Call Genie amalgamating VoodooVox’s real-time phone call and ad traffic demographic data into its own activities, which it intends to expand into mobile advertising.
Michael Durance, chief executive officer of Call Genie, said: "The more pay-per-call advertisers know about their callers, the more success they’ll have with their campaigns. Our goal is to create a smarter mobile ad network, and VoodooVox gives us audience insights that benefit key stakeholders in the mobile advertising ecosystem."
Steven Murray, partner at SoftBank Capital, added: "This acquisition is another important step for Call Genie. The analytics capability VoodooVox brings to the combined company provides a compelling differentiator that should assist Call Genie to enhance its presence in the mobile advertising space."