Blackstone to Invest in Liftoff to Help Fuel Future Growth
December 22 2020 - 12:00PM
Business Wire
Partnership will further accelerate Liftoff as
a leading performance marketing platform
Liftoff, a global performance-based mobile app marketing
optimization platform, announced today it has reached a definitive
agreement for a majority investment from private equity funds
managed by Blackstone (NYSE:BX, “Blackstone”). This strategic
partnership marks a new phase in Liftoff’s continuing mission to
develop industry-leading technology and product solutions that help
marketers grow their engaged user bases through initial and ongoing
engagement efforts.
Founded in 2012, Liftoff partners with mobile app marketers to
grow their platforms globally. Liftoff’s best-in-class technology
solutions deliver more than one billion engaging ads each day to
high value users in more than 90 countries and across more than
500,000 mobile publishers. As content consumption increasingly
shifts to mobile devices, the company is well positioned to serve
the high-growth mobile app ecosystem as a leader in programmatic
user acquisition and retention. Liftoff has been included on the
Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in the U.S. in each of
the last four years. Headquartered in Redwood City, California,
Liftoff has additional offices in New York, San Francisco, Seattle,
Berlin, London, Paris, Singapore, Seoul, and Tokyo.
Blackstone has been an active investor in digital content and
advertising technology, including recent investments in Ancestry,
Bumble, and Vungle. Liftoff’s partnership with Blackstone reflects
a shared belief in the future growth potential of the industry and
long-term vision to build on Liftoff’s leadership position.
Blackstone’s investment will help enable Liftoff to further
accelerate investment priorities, expand its global footprint, and
fuel future growth initiatives.
Sachin Bavishi, Managing Director at Blackstone, said: “Liftoff
is a market leader and a key growth partner for many of the world’s
leading mobile app developers through its extensive global reach
and strong programmatic capabilities. This investment reflects our
high conviction in both mobile content and mobile advertising, and
we believe that Blackstone’s extensive resources and expertise will
help enable Liftoff to further capitalize on its strong momentum
and significant growth potential. We are very excited to partner
with Liftoff’s talented founders to continue to provide
best-in-class solutions to the industry.”
Martin Brand, Co-Head of U.S. Acquisitions for Blackstone's
Private Equity Group, said: “Liftoff is an independent leader in
the marketplace for mobile ads. Blackstone has significant
experience investing in the fast-growing mobile ecosystem, and we
are excited to back Mark and his team as they continue the rapid
growth of Liftoff.”
“We’re excited to be partnering with Blackstone, one of the
premier private equity firms in the world,” said Mark Ellis, CEO
and co-founder of Liftoff. “Blackstone’s expertise will be
invaluable as we continue to scale our company globally, expand our
product offerings and help more mobile marketers build a growing
audience of engaged users for their mobile experiences.”
The transaction is expected to close early next year, subject to
customary closing conditions. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as
financial advisor and Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin
& Hachigian, LLP served as legal advisor to Liftoff while LUMA
Partners LLC served as financial advisor and Simpson Thacher &
Bartlett LLP served as legal advisor to Blackstone. Terms of the
transaction were not disclosed.
About Liftoff
Liftoff is a complete mobile app marketing platform that helps
companies acquire and retain high quality mobile app users at
scale. Liftoff uses prediction intelligence and unbiased ML to find
engaged users at scale for mobile app marketers, creative testing
to deliver the most engaging ad experience and a unique cost per
revenue model to optimize for LTV goals. Liftoff is proud to be a
long term partner to leading brand advertisers and app publishers
since 2012. Headquartered in Redwood City, Liftoff has a global
presence with offices in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Berlin,
London, Paris, Singapore, Seoul, and Tokyo.
About Blackstone
Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We
seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our
investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which
we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible
capital to help companies solve problems. Our $584 billion in
assets under management include investment vehicles focused on
private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, life sciences,
growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real
assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further
information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone
on Twitter @Blackstone.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201222005538/en/
Blackstone Matt Anderson 212-390-2472
matthew.anderson@blackstone.com
Liftoff Dennis Mink 415-938-6465
dennis@liftoff.io
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