Microsoft announced Tuesday that it will acquire AT&T affiliate Xandr, a data-driven platform that connects marketers and media owners through an advertising marketplace. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
AT&T formed Xandr in 2018 after its acquisition of AppNexus. About a year later, the company acquired clypd, a television advertising platform.
Xandr has about 1,200 employees across the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. In an email, AT&T spokeswoman Brittany Siwald said Microsoft has indicated that it is committed to ongoing investment and growth in Xandr.
“During the planning phase, between sign and close, Microsoft will work with the Xandr leadership team to better understand the talent the team brings to the table and the ongoing needs to grow the business,” Siwald told Built In.
Mikhail Parakhin, Microsoft’s president of web experiences, wrote in a blog post that Microsoft and Xandr will work together to create a post-cookie digital landscape that respects consumer privacy preferences, understands publishers’ relationships with consumers and helps advertisers meet their goals.
By combining Microsoft’s audience understanding, technology and global advertising customer base with Xandr’s large-scale, data-driven advertising platforms, Parakhin said the two companies can accelerate the delivery of digital advertising solutions for the open web.
“Microsoft and Xandr have a shared vision and complementary strengths to empower the open web, where everyone can thrive and do so in a way that is consistent with our commitment to strong data governance and consumer privacy practices,” Parakhin wrote.
