LONDON: Bidstack Group has acquired the entire issued share capital of Minimised Media Limited, which trades under the name ‘Pubguard’. Bidstack is an in-game advertising group.

The consideration for the transaction of £300,000 will be entirely satisfied by the issue and allotment of 869,565 Bidstack ordinary shares credited as fully paid at a price of 34.5 pence per share.

Minimised Media have built software technology that automatically reviews advertisements served in-app and on mobile and desktop web content to identify offensive, malicious, illegal ad content and malware which can be blocked at a clients’ discretion.

Pubguard’s platform and technology offering is well known and well respected in the digital advertising industry. Pubguard’s software will be used to protect all of Bidstack’s gaming inventories.

Bidstack intends to maintain and utilise the Pubguard platform to enhance its current technical and commercial offering as part of its Software Development Kit. The Directors believe the acquisition will provide a ready-made solution to enhance the Bidstack platform and save the Company several months of development time and resource.

James Draper, CEO of Bidstack, commented, “As custodians of studio director’s artwork the prevention of fraudulent advertising is a priority for us.  Pubguard brings a number of technical and commercial upsides to Bidstack.  First, we are protecting gamers against fake adverts that, for example, could redirect them to adult content.  Second, Pubguard brings the group technology and a brand that is respected in the gaming and digital media space.

“As we have said previously, our intention is to grow Bidstack to become a significant media owner in the video games market.  We stated Q3 would be an important period for us and I believe the purchase of Pubguard, our first venture into growth by acquisition, shows our commitment towards commercial innovation.

“We’d like to welcome the Pubguard team into the Bidstack family and we look forward to growing the business further.”

Justin Wenczka, CEO of Minimised Media said, “Due to high levels of user engagement we’ve seen gaming brands targeted by fraudsters so it makes sense for us to focus on an area of great need with the fantastic team at Bidstack.  Gaming is part of our company culture so we know the huge potential of unlocking multi-platform ad spaces and the need for increased safety measures to protect its sensitive demographics. Bidstack has a tremendous focus and comprises of some of the best talent in the industry and we’re looking forward to achieving great things together moving forward.”

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