Friday, July 19, 2019

ZEFR Sells Rights Management Assets To Vobile For $90M

Los Angeles-based ZEFR has sold its rights management and content-flagging assets--RightsID and ChannelID--to Vobile Group, a provider of video content protection, measurement, and monetization, in a deal worth $90M, the two companies annoucned late Thursday. According to Vobile, it will open up a new office in Los Angeles as a result of the acquisition, with approximately 100 employees. Vobile said ZEFR's businesses produced over $40M in recurring, profitable revenue in 2018. ZEFR will continue to focus on its other business, in context-sensitive advertising for YouTube, and will have around 150 employees left in that business unit. ZEFR is backed by IVP, U.S. Venture Partners, MK Capital, Shasta Ventures, First Round Capital and Richmond Park Partners. The sale is not the first for ZEFR, which got its start posting licensed movie clips to YouTube. It sold that business, Movieclips.com, in 2014, to Fandango.

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