Global buys AudioHQ, rebrands it to Dax

Global, the media and entertainment group, has acquired US-based digital audio ad sales company, AudioHQ. The move gives Global an ad sales and ad tech footprint in the US and makes Global’s DAX platform the largest digital audio advertising platform in the world, as AudioHQ is rebranded to DAX. With the addition of AudioHQ, DAX now offers advertisers access to a total audience of 160m people worldwide.

The move also means that Global will have offices across the US in locations including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit. AudioHQ has grown 330 per cent over the past two years, making it one of the biggest aggregators of digital audio inventory in the US.

In Europe, Global is opening offices in France and Germany in November. DAX will now operate from new locations in Paris and Hamburg, led by David Cooper, Global’s head of DAX sales (EU). Cooper joined Global in July from Spotify where he was director of sales, and reports into Ollie Deane, Global’s director of commercial digital.

Matt Cutair, AudioHQ CEO and co-founder, will run DAX in the US with chief revenue officer and co-founder Jeff McCarthy. Cutair and McCarthy retain a stake in the business. All AudioHQ team members will join the DAX team.

Publishers with inventory already on the AudioHQ roster include Slacker, Major League Baseball, TuneIn and SoundCloud. In 2016 AudioHQ partnered with Laurence Fishburne and Larenz Tate to produce scripted audio drama, Bronzeville, which was distributed through Apple, Google Play, SoundCloud, Radio One (US), TuneIn, Spotify and other platforms.

Stephen Miron, Global’s group CEO, said: “We launched DAX in the UK in 2014 to offer advertisers a simple way to reach the growing number of people consuming digital audio. In the past three years, demand from advertisers has intensified as the audience has grown and we’ve continued to innovate to keep DAX ahead of the market. A natural next step for us was to take DAX to the US. AudioHQ is a very impressive business with strong client and publisher relationships and a really great team. DAX has revolutionised the digital audio advertising market in the UK, and we’re confident it will be a huge success in the US.  For Global, this acquisition is a significant milestone as we enter the US advertising market.”


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