Broadsign acquires Place Exchange

Out-of-home (OOH) adtech provider Broadsign announced it has acquired Place Exchange, an independent OOH supply-side platform (SSP), with a minority investment from Crestline Investors. The acquisition will combine Broadsign’s content management system, ad serving, and buy- and sell-side capabilities with Place Exchange’s SSP and complementary solutions.

“Demand for OOH advertising continues to hold strong, but for the OOH market to seize new growth opportunities, rapid evolution is key. The acquisition of Place Exchange will allow Broadsign to deliver the most comprehensive OOH advertising solution in the market,” shared Burr Smith, CEO, Broadsign. “We see the future of OOH as smarter, more efficient, dynamic, and measurable. With Place Exchange’s team and technology, and Crestline’s investment, Broadsign will deliver on that vision much faster.”

With the acquisition, Place Exchange CEO Ari Buchalter and the Place Exchange team have also joined Broadsign.

“OOH is having a major moment, with more buyers and DSPs of all shapes and sizes leaning into the medium, sparking a new era of innovation. The combination of Place Exchange and Broadsign comes at a perfect time, unleashing the most complete OOH advertising solution built by the industry’s leading platforms to meet this demand,” Buchalter said. “Together with Broadsign, we’ll be able to accelerate the advancement of OOH workflows, with a focus on automation and data, to reimagine how the channel is bought, sold, and measured for the better.”

“Programmatic buying has emerged as one of the strongest growth engines within DOOH, bringing greater automation, measurability, and demand into the channel. The broader expansion of the ad-tech market is creating meaningful new opportunities, and we’re thrilled to support Broadsign and Place Exchange in this transaction,” added Will Palmer, a Crestline partner and co-head of U.S. credit, who will also be joining the Broadsign Board of Directors.

The deal marks Broadsign’s fourth acquisition in less than seven years and expands Broadsign’s team to 370 employees globally, and its network of programmatically transactable OOH inventory to 1.8 million screens.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Solomon Partners served as the financial advisor to Broadsign on this transaction, while LUMA Partners served as the financial advisor to Place Exchange.

Mark Boidman, Head of Media and Entertainment Investment banking at Solomon Partners, said, “We believe this transaction makes Broadsign the clear number one global provider of tech solutions to the out of home media industry adding the leading SSP as it relates to OOH and in store media.”