• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, July 15, 2013

Criteo, which focuses on performance display advertising, has acquired AD-X Tracking to support mobile campaigns. The companies did not disclose the financial details of the deal, but industry speculation suggests this move seals the deal for a forthcoming initial public offering, though no formal announcement has been made.

AD-X Tracking supports in-app events and downloads, allowing marketers to optimize mobile campaign performance across hundreds of ad networks, demand side platforms and other marketing solutions.

The company's platform integrates with hundreds of mobile vendors worldwide, tracking more than 1 billion app interactions monthly. AD-X and Criteo work with various brands and agencies, such as eBay, Expedia, M&C Saatchi, and Playtika.

The AD-X technology, which supports iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows and Facebook, will integrate into Criteo's platform, but the company plans to remain a standalone business unit. It will offer its integrated cross-devices monitoring and tracking system to advertisers and app developers.

Based in the U.K, with offices in San Francisco, David Philippson remains managing director of AD-X at Criteo. The combined company plans to make investments to build out its core analytics and attribution services.

In June, Criteo appointed Estelle Werth to global privacy officer. Werth was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Network Advertising Initiative in the United States and the Internet Advertising Bureau Europe. In this position, she focuses on integrating user privacy into product design through deployment, and improving on the communication to consumers about the objectives of online advertising.