Microsoft × AT&T Inc.
Microsoft agreed to acquire the Xandr ad-tech platform from AT&T. [8] While the financial terms were not officially disclosed, reports at the time suggested the price was around $1 billion. [3, 7] The deal combined Xandr's data-driven advertising marketplace with Microsoft's global advertising customer base and audience intelligence. [2, 4]
The asset
The global programmatic advertising marketplace Xandr, including the AppNexus and Clypd platforms.
The record
- Seller status
- Going concern
- Sector
- Telecom & Ad-Tech
- Modalities
- ad-tech platform, programmatic marketplace
- Jurisdiction
- US
- Personal data
- The deal was positioned as a way to shape a post-cookie digital ad marketplace that respects consumer privacy preferences. [2, 8] The platform was built on AT&T's first-party data, but the ongoing use of that specific data by the new owner was not the primary component of the sale.
What it means if you hold data
This deal represents a major consolidation in the ad-tech space, with a tech giant acquiring a platform originally built to leverage a telecom operator's vast first-party data. It underscores the high value of the technology and marketplace built around large datasets, even when the raw data itself is not the core asset being transferred.