The internet services holding company CentralNIC has announced that it has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire the AI-powered ad exchange and online ad measurement and management solutions company Codewise.
Codewise and its businesses Zeropark and Voluum will be joining the CentralNIC group whose platforms are used by over 45m domains on the internet today.
As part of the proposed acquisition, Codewise will continue to run independently under its current management with a new board that will work alongside CentralNIC’s existing monetisation business Team Internet. CentralNIC has also said that it is not planning to make any changes to Codewise’s staff, services or current pricing.
Codewise, Zeropark and Voluum CEO Dr. John Malatesta provided further insight on the deal in a press release, saying:
“This is an exciting day for our current and future joint customers as this acquisition is founded on natural technological and commercial synergies with CentralNic’s monetisation businesses, logically enabling the further expansion of an industry primary online advertising integrated stack which seamlessly consolidates in one place, demand and supply management, tracking and optimization. The inherent business similarities between our companies will result in accelerated profitable growth to be reinvested in relentlessly elevated product and customer experiences.”
Acquisition spree
CentralNIC has acquired at least one company every year since it was listed on the London Stock Exchange back in September of 2013.
In 2013, the group made its first acquisition when it acquired the German domain management software company DomiNIC Software. The following year CentralNIC acquired the domain registrar Internet.bs from the Bahamas in June and the asset management company Accent Media LTD from the UK. In 2015, the group picked up the domain and DNS management firm dnsXperts from Germany, in 2016 it acquired the domain name search and registration firm Intra from Australia/New Zealand and in 2017 it acquired the internet domain management service company SK-NIC from Slovakia.
2018 and 2019 were both big years for CentralNIC as it acquired GlobeHosting in the US, KeyDrive Group in Germany, Hexonet in Germany and Canada, TPP Wholesale in Australia, Ideegeo from New zealand and Team Internet from Germany.
CEO of the CentralNIC Group Ben Crawford praised the company’s latest acquisition, saying:
“We are delighted that Codewise, Zeropark and Voluum, their platforms and technology, expert staff and business relationships are becoming part of CentralNic. Added to our existing capabilities, the Acquisition makes us a clear global leader, combining two of the most technically advanced monetisation platforms in the domain name industry, and the formidable teams that built and run them.”
