Three years after trying to make the jump to the Toronto Stock Exchange, the Montreal digital advertising sales platform Sharethrough accepts a purchase offer from the French group Equativ.
The value of the transaction is not specified, but it would exceed 100 million US dollars, according to our information.
“We’ve been talking with Equativ for almost three years,” said Sharethrough CEO Jean-François Côté in an interview.
“We want to build a global technological platform and Equativ is very present in Europe, Asia and South America, while we have a good presence in North America. The combination of the two companies creates a business worth nearly 1 billion in advertising expenses,” adds the entrepreneur.
Sharethrough, which derives more than 90% of its revenue from the United States, is expected to help Equativ expand its presence in the United States.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Jean-François Côté, CEO of Sharethrough
Jean-François Côté maintains that the transaction makes it possible to create a company with a turnover of more than 200 million US dollars which will generate an operating profit (EBITDA) greater than 30 million US dollars with more than 700 employees in 20 countries.
The transaction comes after British investment firm Bridgepoint took a majority stake in Equativ last year.
Jean-François Côté underlines that he and his fellow co-founders will remain shareholders by rolling 50% of their shares into Equativ.
He adds that the Fonds FTQ, Investissement Québec and Exportation et développement Canada (EDC) – three shareholders of Sharethrough – are leaving the adventure by pocketing an “interesting” profit.
Jean-François Côté says he intends to “continue” to grow the Montreal office.
The transaction will allow us to innovate more, accelerate our R&D and optimize our investments in the talent pool in Quebec.
Jean-François Côté, CEO of Sharethrough
Sharethrough has 180 employees distributed relatively evenly between Canada (Montreal and Toronto) and the United States (New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles). The company also has around ten employees in London.
Originally an American company, Sharethrough became in 2021 the result of a merger with Montreal-based District M, a company that Jean-François Côté founded around ten years ago with Benoit Skinazi, Sébastien Filion, Patrice Marin and Dominic Fortin.
A suspended stock market entry
Shortly after this merger, Jean-François Côté and his colleagues filed a prospectus aimed at listing Sharethrough on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Management wanted to raise 75 million to strengthen the financial situation and support a growth strategy. The operation was expected to give the company an initial market valuation of 300 to 400 million.
However, the Stock Exchange “window” quickly closed in the fall of 2021 and the project was suspended.
The company’s technology is based on algorithms to target advertising performance (return on advertising spend, site traffic and brand awareness).
Sharethrough and Equativ will continue to be operated separately for the rest of the year, explains Jean-François Côté. “From 2025, we will integrate the companies to form a single entity. The goal is to build a business worth more than US$1 billion by 2027.”
To achieve this, he says, it will be necessary to increase operating profit (EBITDA) to almost US$100 million, which implies that current operating profit will have to triple over the next three years.
Jean-François Côté maintains that he does not yet know what his position will ultimately be within the new entity, but says he is convinced of finding an interesting role.