Unity is merging with Ironsource in an all-stock deal valuing Ironsource at $4.4B in a big consolidation play for gaming
Update: the companies have confirmed the news here. IronSource is being valued at $4.4 billion in the all-stock deal. Part of the transaction will also involve Silver Lake and Sequoia, the two largest Unity shareholders, to invest $1 billion in Unity in the form of convertible notes after the transaction closes.
Original story from earlier: The downturn in tech valuations is leading to some significant M&A activity, and the latest development on that front looks like it is coming from the world of gaming and perhaps more specifically, interactive developer ops. Unity, the massive games and other interactive content development platform, is planning to merge with Ironsource, an app monetization platform that provides tools for ads, cross-channel marketing, distribution and more.
The news is not yet official, but a source tells us that it will be announced formally as early as later today. A spokesperson for Ironsource did not deny the deal when I contacted the company to ask for comment; she only said that she would be sending me a comment when she could later. We’re continuing to ask questions and will update this story as we hear more.
The move would bring together two powerhouses in their respective fields — interactive development and app monetization. However, both companies have something else in common: they are publicly traded and have seen their stocks decline in recent months, in line with the larger downturn in the technology sector. That’s leading to pressure from shareholders, on top of the companies’ wider strategies to continue growing and diversifying themselves as businesses in what is shaping up to be a challenging climate.
In Ironsource’s last quarterly earnings, reported in May, the company noted a healthy
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