Liberated Syndication Inc., the industry’s leading podcast hosting platform and advertising marketplace, announced that it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Podcast Ad Reps LLC (“PAR”), a leading podcast advertising company. PAR and its team members will be combined with Libsyn’s AdvertiseCast business, one of the largest independent and fastest-growing podcasts advertising marketplaces. Rick Selah and Anthony Savelli, PAR’s founders, and Co-CEOs, will join AdvertiseCast’s.
“I am thrilled to announce this acquisition,” said Libsyn’s CRO Dave Hanley. “On the heels of AdvertiseCast’s continued growth, we looked throughout the industry for additional opportunities to connect great content with our growing roster of advertisers. We quickly identified PAR and its leadership team as best-in-class and believe they will be a great addition to the AdvertiseCast organization. On behalf of everyone at Libsyn, we feel fortunate to partner with industry leaders like Rick and Anthony and to embark on this new chapter of growth as we look forward to helping more creators thrive.”
Founded in 2018, PAR enables podcast advertising for over 120 exclusive podcasters on its network and allows advertisers and agencies to efficiently buy and manage advertising campaigns in the podcast sector. PAR revenue has grown rapidly, increasing over 100% year-over-year in 2021 to approximately $8 million.
Since inception, PAR has scaled profitably with no outside investment and serves such top podcasting shows as New Rockstars Inside Marvel, The Official Yellowstone Podcast, Almost 30 Podcast, and Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast. PAR provides Libsyn with more host-read inventory that Libsyn can begin to sell immediately as well as more publishers for Libsyn emerging programatic advertising business.
PAR founders and Co-CEOs Rick Selah and Anthony Savelli commented, “Our goal at PAR to empower the creator economy by offering a no-strings-attached, simple advertising service that can amplify the specific creative processes of our podcasters. We are incredibly proud that the vast majority of our original publishers have remained with us since our launch and credit the company’s success to our incredible team and our brand-friendly approach. We are excited to partner with Libsyn and AdvertiseCast and to deliver more services to even more creators on this larger platform.”
Libsyn’s CEO Brand Tirpak continues, “With the acquisitions of AdvertiseCast in June 2021 and now PAR, Libsyn is is well-positioned to continue to rapidly scale in the podcast advertising market, which PWC estimates will reach – $3.5 billion by 2025. We plan to continue to invest in our award-winning hosting platform, expand both our host-read and programmatic advertising efforts, and look for new ways to make Libsyn the preferred destination for both creators and advertisers.”
The acquisitions closing is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to occur in Q1 2022.