NEW YORK | LOS ANGELES | GENEVA | April 21, 2015 – aufeminin (Ticker: FEM) announces today the sale of its subsidiary Smart AdServer to private equity firm Cathay Capital for a price of €37 million.
Redwood Capital Group and LD&A Jupiter, as part of their cross-Atlantic joint venture, were exclusive financial advisers to aufeminin group.
Smart AdServer, created in 2001 and part of the aufeminin group, has become a European leader in ad serving and RTB within the last years. The company has enjoyed a sustained and profitable growth in the past. In 2014 Smart AdServer reported revenue of €14.0 million. This sale occurs in the context of aufeminin's review of its strategic options and its strategy to accelerate its external growth, its internationalization and its diversification of revenues.
Marie-Laure Sauty de Chalon, aufeminin’s CEO, said at this occasion: “Accompanying Smart AdServer in its development was a great chance for aufeminin, and I want to warmly congratulate Cyrille Geffray and his team for the work performed through all these years. We would not leave one another completely as we would continue to closely work with the Smart AdServer team using their excellent products and services.”
Mingpo Cai, President of Cathay Capital Private Equity, stated: “We are delighted to welcome Smart AdServer’s team, led by its talented CEO Cyrille Geffray, into the Cathay ecosystem. Smart AdServer is a historical actor within a market experiencing strong growth, driven by the strong rise in programmatic investments within advertiser’s budgets as well as the strong business dynamic ongoing in the United States. Provided that the transaction unfolds as planned, our truly global footprint and vast business network spanning three continents should help Smart AdServer to leverage these positive fundamentals by stepping up its international expansion.”
Cyrille Geffray, Managing Director of Smart AdServer, notes: “Through this project, the company would gain new momentum. Our main goal has always been to equip our clients with the best platform in order to help them to maintain control over their development and to keep their independence. We would continue to support them, without any risks linked to conflict of interest, counterparties or selling-out, but with more resources. Our ambition is to offer the best integrated platform for the optimization of direct and programmatic sales and for any kind of digital content (Web, Mobile and Video).”
James Holzer, Partner Redwood Capital Group, observed “Smart AdServer, as a leading international AdTech player, was able to avail the global reach of Redwood in taking this important next step with Cathay Capital.”
About aufeminin
aufeminin is a top-tier digital content provider which posted revenues of €87 million in 2014. A limited company which is 80.8% owned by the Axel Springer Group, it is listed in compartment B of Euronext Paris (ISIN: FR0004042083, Ticker: FEM). As the world’s No. I provider of editorial and community-based content for women, aufeminin Publishing is present on all platforms and devices in 14 countries and has 33 million individual site visitors per month worldwide and an ever-increasing number of unique visitors by mobile phone which already stands at 36 million.
For more information , please visit www.aufeminin.com/astro-sc12.html.
About Cathay Capital Private Equity
Cathay Capital Private Equity, founded by Mingpo Cai and Edouard Moinet in Paris in 2006, is the leading global middle-market, private equity firm created by Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs. As an expert in creating value through cross-border investments in China, Europe and North America, Cathay Capital is fully dedicated to helping its portfolio company management teams focus on growth and succeed beyond their original borders.
Cathay’s unique platform on three continents – and offices currently located in Shanghai, Beijing, New York and Paris – as well as its multicultural team including thirty investment professionals, enables the firm to locally accelerate cross-border growth strategies through its broad local ecosystems. As of December 31, 2014, Cathay Capital had invested in 36 companies and had over 900 million euros under management.
For more information, please visit www.cathay.fr
