Affle to acquire majority stake in Singapore-based Appnext for $17.25 mn

Ad-tech company Affle said it will acquire 66.67 percent stake in Singapore-based Appnext through one of its subsidiaries for USD 17.25 million (over Rs 130 crore).

Affle International Pte Ltd (Singapore subsidiary of Affle), has entered into an agreement to acquire 66.67 percent ownership in Appnext, Affle said in a filing on late Monday night.

It has the option to acquire the remaining 28.33 percent shares and 5 percent shares of Appnext within 3 years and 5 years respectively, from the closing of the agreement, it added.

Also, Affle MEA FZ-LLC (a unit of Affle International) has inked an Intellectual Property Purchase agreement to acquire 100 percent tech IP assets of Appnext Ltd incorporated in British Virgin Islands, it said.

"A total consideration of USD 17.25 million for 66.67 percent of equity ownership and transfer of the Tech IP assets, to be paid over next 12 months from the date of closing of the agreements," the filing added.

In a statement on Tuesday, Affle (India) Ltd said Appnext's app discovery and recommendation platform enables top mobile handset manufacturers (OEMs) and apps developers to deliver personalised app recommendations to mobile users globally.

With 300 million daily active users, over 20 on-device daily interactions through strategic OEM partnerships and more than 60,000 apps, Appnext is an independent app recommendation platform.

"We are excited to welcome the Appnext team on-board as we strengthen our foundation for Affle's next phase of growth journey. Affle 2.0 will focus on building sustainable market leadership in India as well as enhancing our competitive advantage globally through our technology innovations," Affle Chairman, MD and CEO Anuj Khanna Sohum said.

He added that the Appnext platform transforms ads into app recommendations as a service for consumers and thus, strengthens its CPCU business model by enabling greater return on investment (RoI) for advertisers.

"India and SEA are our biggest business markets and we are proud to have been recently ranked amongst the leading discovery platforms in these incredible regions. This deal would allow us to further strengthen our position and provide us a greater platform for global growth," Appnext founder Elad Natanson said.