Media and entertainment group Global has acquired US-based digital audio ad sales company, AudioHQ.
The deal gives Global an ad sales and ad tech footprint in the US and makes DAX the largest digital audio advertising platform in the world, bringing an audience of 130 million to DAX giving advertisers access to 160m people worldwide.
Global will now have offices across the US in locations including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit as AudioHQ is rebranded to DAX.
Stephen Miron, Global’s group CEO, said: “We launched DAX in the UK in 2014 to offer advertisers a simple way to reach the growing number of people consuming digital audio. In the past three years, demand from advertisers has intensified as the audience has grown and we’ve continued to innovate to keep DAX ahead of the market. A natural next step for us was to take DAX to the US.
"AudioHQ is a very impressive business with strong client and publisher relationships and a really great team. DAX has revolutionised the digital audio advertising market in the UK, and we’re confident it will be a huge success in the US. For Global, this acquisition is a significant milestone as we enter the US advertising market.”
Publishers with inventory already on the AudioHQ roster include Slacker, Major League Baseball, TuneIn and SoundCloud.
Matt Cutair, AudioHQ CEO and co-founder, will run DAX in the US with chief revenue officer and co-founder Jeff McCarthy. Cutair and McCarthy retain a stake in the business. All AudioHQ team members will join the DAX team.
In Europe, Global is opening offices in France and Germany from November. DAX will now operate from new locations in Paris and Hamburg, led by David Cooper, Global’s head of DAX sales (EU), who joined Global in July from Spotify where he was director of sales.
