TF1 sells programmatic ad unit to HLD

French broadcaster TF1 is selling its programmatic advertising subsidiary Gamnedi to investment outfit HLD.

Gamnedi specialises in programmatic media buying with a client list that includes AXA, Orange, But, Tape à l’oeil and Macif, providing digital targeting across all media and advertising formats including display advertising, video, social media, television, digital-out-of-home advertising, search engine advertising and audio.

TF1 said that the sale of the unit would enable it to pursue its development in territories outside France and further its growth with the financial resources made available by its new owners, tapping into growing demand from advertisers looking to transform their marketing strategy.

The sale of the unit, only four years after it was acquired, could be taken as an indication that TF1, in the process of merging with rival M6, another traditional commercial broadcaster, is pulling back from earlier plans to expand more aggressively into the digital domain.

Having placed all its digital assets, including female-focused portal Auféminin under the Unify unit in 2019, the group has struggled to integrate its different acquisitions and achieve its objectives in the digital domain.

TF1 said that HLD funds had both the financial means and the experience necessary in integrating companies with a high level of expertise to take forward a project of consolidation around Gamnedi.