Sqreem describes itself as the world’s largest digital behaviour aggregator, and a “pure artificial intelligence” company. It has built a platform where its AI algorithms continuously collect, analyse, translate, and catalogue the vast amounts of consumer data available online.
It says it can bring this information together to capture anonymous digital footprints of audience cohorts, which are highly targetable for advertisers without the use of cookies.
“We saw significant growth as a company, and the Sqreem guys in Singapore had contacted Calvin about 18 months ago and presented their platform, and we were keen to try it, and have been stress testing it for over 12 months,” Mr Rosenberg told The Australian Financial Review.
“We saw an unbelievably increased performance working with them and built a strong working relationship. Sqreem is omnipresent across Asia, and it eventually began to become clear that a merger of some kind would make sense.”
Mr Rosenberg engaged corporate lawyer Jeremy Goldman of KCL Law, who introduced him to Tom Ellis of Highview Capital, a merger and acquisition specialist advisory firm, to set to work on a deal.
After an original proposal for a deal whereby Sqreem would own 51 per cent of Trade Indy, Mr Rosenberg said they decided to go all in. The Trade Indy brand will remain in the near term, but may eventually be retired.
The deal is the latest in a string of tech related acquisition activity, with Australian companies such as Octopus Deploy targeting overseas firms, and outfits such as ASX-listed Ansarada attracting international buyers.
Deal logic
Mr Pinnegar said the deal made sense from a strategic and financial perspective, and that the combined entities would be in a strong position to grow internationally, as advertisers are forced to rely less on website tracking cookies to target advertising.
“This is the first ever end-to-end audience intelligence and buying platform that involves zero cookies,” he said.
“The AI is bringing in aggregated data that lets us target moments of interest, rather than individuals based on their own personal browsing history. It is less invasive, and our aim is to make advertising more of an informative utility as opposed to an invasive irritation.”
Sqreem CEO Ian Chapman-Banks said the deal was the latest in a rapid growth plan over the past two years that had seen it acquire or partner with companies in more than 10 countries.
“The Trade Indy acquisition is significant in that it puts Sqreem into the global A-league of AI innovators,” he said in a statement.
“Australia currently ranks 15th out of 62 countries across the world for AI adoption. This presents a unique opportunity for early adopters like Sqreem and Trade Indy to drive significant growth for their clients whilst expanding their global reach and relevance.”
