Boston, MA, June 7, 2021 – Burns & Levinson has closed the $30 million acquisition of client AdvertiseCast, LLC by Liberated Syndication Inc. (OTCQB:LSYN) (Libsyn), the industry’s leading podcast hosting platform. Libsyn has acquired AdvertiseCast, one of the largest independent and fastest-growing podcast advertising companies, for a purchase price of up to $30 million including $18 million in cash, $10 million in newly issued Libsyn shares, and $2 million which will be paid as an earn-out. AdvertiseCast co-founders Trevr Smithlin and Dave Hanley will remain with the company.
The deal was announced on March 31, 2021 and closed on June 7, 2021. Deborah Peckham, co-chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Group provided deal support on IP and data privacy issues. Telos Advisors LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to AdvertiseCast in the deal. This is the third major deal in the podcasting industry that Burns & Levinson and Telos Advisors have collaborated on in the past three years. In 2019, they represented Pineapple Street Media in its acquisition by Entercom Communications.
“We chose Burns and Levinson for their vast knowledge in the podcasting industry as well as their extensive experience in middle market M&A. The team were able to navigate the transaction and complex issues to get us to the finish line,” said Trevr Smithlin, co-founder of AdvertiseCast.
Founded in 2016, AdvertiseCast’s self-serve marketplace enables podcast advertising for over 1,500 active mid- and large-tier podcasters currently on its network and allows advertisers and agencies to efficiently buy and manage advertising campaigns in the podcast sector. Since inception, AdvertiseCast revenue has grown rapidly, increasing 45% year over year in 2020 to approximately $12 million. AdvertiseCast has scaled profitably since inception with no outside investment.
The combination of Libsyn’s 75,000 podcasts and AdvertiseCast’s premier advertising capabilities will accelerate revenue opportunities for podcast creators and provide advertisers with significant new inventory. The acquisition will position Libsyn to be the leading platform for both podcast hosting and monetization.
About AdvertiseCast
AdvertiseCast, LLC was founded in 2016 and combines an industry-leading ad buying and management platform with full-service campaign management capabilities to reduce the typical friction involved with podcast advertising. AdvertiseCast’s proprietary software platform enables simple podcast advertising campaign creation and management. Leading advertising agencies, brands and content creators use AdvertiseCast to manage successful campaigns to produce real results for advertisers, while providing maximum return for publishers. Visit AdvertiseCast at https://www.advertisecast.com/.
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