App store optimization company TheTool was acquired in February 2021 by the app marketing firm App Radar for six figures.
Founded in 2017 by Daniel Peris and Miriam Peláez, TheTool is an app store optimization (ASO) platform that helps developers market their iOS and Android apps. Launched as an internal tool by Barcelona-based marketing firm PICKASO, TheTool helps users track and optimize their app marketing strategy, and increase downloads on the App and Andriod stores.
“I am very pleased to have struck a deal with App Radar,” Peris said in a press release on the deal. “Their suite of products is the perfect complement to what we have built at TheTool. By combining these solutions App Radar is going to have one of the most complete app marketing offerings available.”
An assets-only sale for TheTool
At the time of its sale, TheTool had more than 35,000 users and more than 400 companies leveraging the platform, Peris wrote in a blog post. The company’s tools were used by video game developers, educational platforms, and e-commerce apps across the globe.
App Radar’s six-figure acquisition of TheTool was an assets-only deal. An assets-only acquisition is a transaction that involves the purchase of individual assets without buying the company itself, allowing the buyer to choose only the technology, intellectual property, or other items she wants. Asset-only deals can simplify the acquisition process because there’s no need to transfer the entire company, but in some situations, it can also entail complex contracts, potential added tax costs, deal requirements, and other legal considerations.
By acquiring TheTool, Austria-based App Radar hopes to expand its presence in Europe and become a “one-stop-shop” for app marketing products, App Radar CEO Thomas Kriebernegg said in a release.
Peris and Peláez continue to lead PICKASO, which offers such services as SEO, design, content marketing, Google Ad consultations, and more. Peris and Peláez declined to comment for this story.
