Asian mobile advertising giant Mobvista buys Sartell tech company NativeX

Asia's largest mobile advertising company, Mobvista, has acquired the technology firm NativeX for $25 million.

The deal was announced Monday.

The 15-year-old NativeX is based in Sartell, Minn., north of St. Cloud, and specializes in making video advertising platforms for smartphone apps and video games. It has been profitable for 12 years and has 50 employees in Minneapolis, Sartell, California and Finland, officials said. The company will keep its headquarters in Sartell.

"We look forward to a successful future as part of the Mobvista family and are exceptionally pleased with the many benefits this acquisition will bring to both our publisher and advertising partners [and] employees," said CEO Robert Weber, who co-founded the company with his identical twin brother, Ryan, in a St. Cloud State University dorm room.

Weber added that the deal will allow NativeX to expand its niche advertising distribution internationally. "We are excited to bring Mobvista's leading global demand to NativeX's monetization partners and strong global supply," he said.

Through acquisitions and partnerships with app developers, NativeX has gained 1 billion mobile users across 178 countries, the statement said.

Mobvista specializes in "global mobile advertising and overseas game publishing" and has users in 240 countries, officials said.

Mobvista founder and CEO Wei Duan said that customers will benefit from the merger.

"Publishers and advertisers can expect to have the combination of the highest growth categories in mobile marketing including native advertising, video and other innovative ad formats — all with strong data driven technologies," he said.

Dee DePass • 612-673-7725