US Video advertising technology firm YuMe has made its move into Europe with the acquisition of UK-based premium mobile video advertising company Appealing Media, and the opening of a London office.

YuMe runs the largest premium video ad network in the US, serving ads across 1,400 publisher sites that are driven by video content. The company also runs multi-screen video ads, across mobile, online and connected TVs.

Appealing Media launched in October 2009 as a pureplay mobile video ad network, representing premium publishers across the mobile web and apps. Its Interactive Video Player ad format won the Grand Prix award at MobiTech Europe in 2010. The company’s clients include ESPN, IPC Media, Bauer Media, and Universal McCann.

Miguel Tatay, Director of Mobile at ITN, says the company has been a strategic partner for the broadcaster as it has worked to drive revenue in its mobile business. “Mobile is an emerging and fast growing way to reach our customers, and the Appealing Media team has been a great asset in helping us navigate our monetization options,” says Tatay.

The deal will enable Appealing Media to accelerate its plans for expansion across Europe. “We were looking to expand, and this deal puts those plans on steroids,” Appealing Media founder and CEO, Owen Hanks, told Mobile Marketing.

For YuMe, the acquisition provides a rapid means of entry into the European market. “The deal gives us local expertise,” says YuMe SVP of marketing, Ed Haslam. “We are buying a business run by seasoned professionals who know what they are doing, so it gives us a running start at Europe, gets us to market faster, and gives us broader reach in the most cost effective way.”

Haslam adds that the deal will enable YuMe to get ad spend out of Europe on its US publisher sites, and vice-versa.