AOL Scoops Up Mobile Ad Network Millennial Media for $238 Million

AOL has acquired mobile ad network Millennial Media for $238 million, or about $1.75 per share.

The Millennial deal is the newest step in building out AOL's tools to compete in mobile advertising against behemoths like Facebook, Yahoo and Google.

With the deal, Verizon-owned AOL is getting access to mobile inventory in Millennial's 65,000 apps—equivalent to 1 billion active global users in markets like Germany, France and Japan. It will also help build out its cross-screen programmatic platform called One.

With Millennial now off the table, it could set off a wave of other deals for tech companies to gobble up smaller mobile ad networks that specialize in video and location-based targeting.

To stay ahead, Millennial zeroed in on building up its automated capabilities the past couple of years by acquiring two other big mobile players. In 2013, it bought real-time bidding platform Jumptap in for $209 million. Then in September 2014, Millennial acquired ad network Nexage for $107 million.