Ligatus

In the world of digital advertising, a Cologne-based company named Ligatus emerged as a key European player. Founded as a subsidiary of the German publishing giant Gruner + Jahr, part of the Bertelsmann group, Ligatus focused on a specific and growing niche: high-impact, non-intrusive native advertising. Under the leadership of CEO Klaus Ludemann, the company built a strong network, delivering billions of ad impressions per month across more than 1,400 premium European publishers like STERN and RTL. The company's trajectory took a significant turn in early 2019. Outbrain, a major content recommendation platform, announced it would acquire Ligatus in a stock deal. For Outbrain, this was a strategic move to consolidate the market and significantly expand its footprint in key European markets, including Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. The acquisition was framed as a powerhouse combination. Outbrain's co-CEO David Kostman noted that merging Ligatus's sophisticated native advertising solutions with Outbrain's strong targeting technology would create a superior experience for marketers, publishers, and users. The deal represented Outbrain's largest acquisition at the time and was a clear signal of its strategy to focus on premium native solutions for high-end brands, ultimately strengthening its position as a dominant force in the global native advertising landscape.