Exclusive-Blackstone mulls $4 billion-plus sale of Liftoff, sources say

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Finance

Posted By Global Banking and Finance Review

Posted on January 11, 2025

Exclusive-Blackstone mulls $4 billion-plus sale of Liftoff, sources say

By Milana Vinn

(Reuters) - Buyout firm Blackstone is weighing strategic options, including a sale, for Liftoff that could value the mobile app marketing provider at more than $4 billion, including debt, two people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The Redwood City, California-based company is working with investment bankers at Goldman Sachs and Jefferies to weigh its options, which also include a potential initial public offering, the sources said, requesting anonymity as the matter is confidential.

The deliberations are at an early stage, the sources said, cautioning that a deal is not guaranteed.

Blackstone is hoping to command a valuation for Liftoff equivalent to more than 10 times the company's 12-month earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization of $350 million, the sources said. Liftoff currently generates about $650 million in annual revenue.

Blackstone and Goldman declined to comment, while Liftoff did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Jefferies declined to comment.

Liftoff previously explored an IPO in late 2021, before the plans fizzled out after equity capital markets froze up following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, the sources said.

The company, which was formed through a merger of Vungle and Liftoff that was engineered by Blackstone, provides a platform for mobile developers to build, advertise, and monetize their applications. Blackstone acquired Vungle in 2019, and invested in Liftoff the following year.

Liftoff's customers include large corporations such as Amazon, PayPal, and Lyft, according to its website.

New York-based Blackstone, the world's largest alternative asset manager, had assets under management of more than $1.1 trillion, as of the end of September. The buyout giant is expecting an improved environment for dealmaking and a pickup in equity capital markets to help it sell and exit more than twice the number of private equity investments this year.

(Reporting by Milana Vinn in New York, editing by Deepa Babington)

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