Exploring Innovid Corp. (CTV) Investor Profile: Who’s Buying and Why?

You're looking at Innovid Corp. (CTV) because the Connected TV (CTV) ad-tech space is still a wild frontier, but honestly, the investor profile story here is less about who's buying the stock now and more about who bought the company outright. Think about it: Innovid was on a clear growth trajectory, with analysts forecasting fiscal year 2025 revenue of $181 million and an Adjusted EBITDA of $33 million, a 21% year-over-year jump in profitability. So, what happens when a company with that kind of near-term momentum suddenly gets taken private?

The big shift happened in early 2025 when Mediaocean LLC's acquisition closed, paying a cash offer of $3.15 per share and effectively cashing out the public market. That move fundamentally changed the shareholder base from a diverse group-including the handful of institutional owners who held a total of just over 48,000 shares-to a single, strategic owner. To be fair, the company's market capitalization was around $468 million at the time of the deal, making it a significant, but not massive, transaction. Now, the question isn't whether retail investors are accumulating, but what Mediaocean plans to do with their new, integrated ad-serving and measurement platform. That's the real capital allocation story.

Who Invests in Innovid Corp. (CTV) and Why?

The investor profile for Innovid Corp. (CTV) is now a historical case study, dominated by one major event in 2025: the acquisition by Mediaocean. You need to understand the investor base in two phases: the long-term holders who believed in the Connected TV (CTV) growth story, and the short-term arbitrageurs who swooped in for the final cash payout.

The ultimate reason investors held or bought shares in early 2025 was the clear path to a premium exit, following the cash offer of $3.15 per share from Mediaocean, announced in late 2024 and completed in February 2025. This acquisition validated the long-term growth thesis for its independent ad-tech platform.

Key Investor Types: The Pre-Acquisition Breakdown

Before the acquisition, Innovid Corp. had a relatively balanced, though small-cap, ownership structure. The institutional presence was significant but not overwhelming, leaving a large portion of the float to retail and private investors. This dynamic is common for growth-oriented companies that went public via a SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) merger.

Here is the approximate breakdown of ownership leading into the acquisition event:

• Institutional Investors: Held approximately 25.34% of shares outstanding. These were primarily mutual funds and passive index funds, plus a growing number of hedge funds engaging in merger arbitrage.
• Insider Ownership: Executives and directors held about 7.54%. This high percentage is a good sign for alignment, as management's interests were tied directly to the sale price.
• Retail and Other: The remaining majority, roughly 67.12%, was held by individual retail investors and other private/corporate entities.

The institutional slice, while only a quarter of the company, provided critical liquidity and validation for the stock. One clean one-liner: Retail investors were the big winners on the final cash-out.

Investment Motivations: The Connected TV Growth Thesis

The core motivation for long-term holders was Innovid Corp.'s position as a leading independent software platform in the rapidly expanding CTV advertising market. Investors weren't chasing a dividend-the company's dividend yield was 0%-they were chasing growth and market share.

The investment thesis was simple: CTV is the future of TV advertising, and Innovid Corp. was the plumbing. Look at the 2025 fiscal year projections, which were the backdrop for the acquisition, and you see why investors were interested:

• Revenue Growth: Forecasted FY2025 revenue was expected to hit $181 million, representing a 14% year-over-year increase.
• Profitability Turn: Projected Adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) for FY2025 was $33 million, a 21% year-over-year jump.
• CTV Focus: The company's core CTV revenue was already growing at 21% year-over-year, showing clear momentum in the right part of the market.

Here's the quick math: The acquisition price essentially valued the company's future growth and its critical role as an independent ad-tech player, especially given the company's Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Innovid Corp. (CTV).

Investment Strategies: The Final Arbitrage Play

In the final months of 2024 and early 2025, the dominant investment strategy shifted to merger arbitrage (a short-term trading strategy). This is where hedge funds and sophisticated investors shine.

Merger arbitrageurs buy the stock after an acquisition is announced, betting on the deal closing. They buy at a slight discount to the offer price and profit from the small spread. For Innovid Corp., once the $3.15 per share cash offer was on the table, the stock price traded just below that amount. Investors bought in, knowing the risk was minimal unless the deal fell apart, and the reward was a guaranteed, quick profit.

What this estimate hides is the risk for the original, long-term investors. Their strategy was a long-term holding for growth, and they were ultimately rewarded with a takeout premium, but the stock's price was often highly volatile before the deal. The final trade was a low-risk, short-term bet on the deal closing, which it defintely did in February 2025.

Next step: Review the final cash distribution records to confirm the exact date the shares were delisted from the NYSE.

Institutional Ownership and Major Shareholders of Innovid Corp. (CTV)

If you're looking at Innovid Corp. (CTV) today, in late 2025, the most crucial piece of information is that the public equity story is over: institutional investors successfully pushed for and approved the company's acquisition by Mediaocean LLC in February 2025 for a cash price of $3.15 per share. This means the investment thesis for the major holders was realized through a strategic exit, not long-term public market growth.

The institutional investor profile was defined by a mix of passive index funds and specialist ad-tech investors who saw the value in Innovid's Connected TV (CTV) platform. Before the merger, institutional ownership stood at approximately 25.34% of the outstanding shares. This level of ownership is typical for a growth-focused software company, but the real power was in their collective action.

Top Institutional Investors and Their Exit Strategy

While a comprehensive list of the largest 13F filers prior to the merger is complex to detail due to the acquisition timeline, the institutional base included major global banks and funds. For instance, limited public filings pointed to a major global player like Deutsche Bank Ag as one of the largest shareholders at the time of the merger activity. Their investment was a bet on the rapidly consolidating ad-tech space, and it paid off quickly.

The core of the institutional holdings, which included over 150 million eligible shares for the vote, was focused on two things: the market's shift to CTV and the company's improving financials. That's the quick math.

• Passive Holders: Provided a stable base, driven by Innovid's inclusion in broader indices.
• Active Specialists: Pushed for a valuation that reflected the company's core technology strength.
• Key Player: Deutsche Bank Ag was noted as a significant institutional shareholder.

Changes in Ownership: The Merger as the Ultimate Change

The most significant change in ownership wasn't a slow accumulation or distribution; it was the definitive, single-event sale to Mediaocean. The deal, announced in late 2024, was approved by shareholders on February 11, 2025, and expected to close just two days later. The stock had surged over 100% in the year leading up to the merger announcement, showing that institutional buying was already heavily underway in anticipation of a strategic move.

The approval vote itself tells the story of institutional consensus. The merger agreement received overwhelming support, with 112,686,234 votes in favor from stockholders. This decisive action meant that any institutional investor who held shares at the time of the merger was effectively selling their stake for the cash consideration of $3.15 per share. This is a clean exit.

Here's a snapshot of the value proposition that drove that consensus:

Impact of Institutional Investors: Strategic Realization

The role these large investors played was not in minor stock price fluctuations but in dictating the company's ultimate strategic direction. When institutional investors hold a quarter of your equity, their collective voice on a major corporate action-like a merger-is the only one that truly matters. They forced the realization of value through an acquisition, rather than waiting for the market to fully appreciate the company's growth in the Connected TV space.

The institutional support for the merger was a clear signal: they believed the guaranteed cash value of $3.15 was a better risk-adjusted return than continuing to hold a small-cap ad-tech stock in a volatile market. This action provided a definitive, profitable end to the investment for those who bought in before the surge. You can get a deeper understanding of the underlying fundamentals that made this acquisition attractive by reading Breaking Down Innovid Corp. (CTV) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

They didn't just passively own the stock; they voted for the exit. That's the real impact.

Key Investors and Their Impact on Innovid Corp. (CTV)

The investor profile for Innovid Corp. (CTV) is now defined by its exit from the public market, which is the single most important investor action of 2025. The core takeaway is that the public investor base, including institutional funds, overwhelmingly voted to accept a cash acquisition by Mediaocean LLC, effectively cashing out their positions at a significant premium to the pre-announcement price.

This move fundamentally shifts the company from a publicly-held growth stock to a private entity, with the final public investor decision occurring on February 11, 2025, when stockholders approved the merger.

The Definitive Investor Move: The Mediaocean Acquisition

The most recent and impactful move by Innovid Corp.'s investors was the approval of its acquisition by Mediaocean LLC, a transaction announced in late 2024. This was a clear signal that the majority of shareholders preferred a guaranteed, immediate cash return over the long-term speculation of the stock's performance in a tough ad-tech market.

The deal was structured as a cash offer of $3.15 per share, representing a substantial 94% premium over the stock's closing price just before the announcement. This valued the company at an enterprise value of approximately $500 million. Honestly, that's a huge premium, and it's why the deal flew through.

The shareholder vote on February 11, 2025, saw a decisive majority, with 112,686,234 votes in favor of the merger agreement, showing strong support for the board's recommendation. The merger was expected to close on February 13, 2025, resulting in Innovid Corp. becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mediaocean and subsequently delisted from the NYSE.

Key Investors and Their Profitable Exit

Before the acquisition, Innovid Corp.'s shareholder base included a mix of institutional funds and the original founders and early investors who benefited significantly from the cash deal. While the company had a relatively small institutional footprint, with only 4 institutional owners holding a total of 48,017 shares reported in early 2025, the larger stakeholders were the ones who drove the final decision.

Notable parties who saw a favorable outcome from the $3.15 per share exit included:

• Founders: CEO Zvika Netter, Tal Chalozin, and Zack Zigdon, who were instrumental in the company's journey and benefited from the acquisition.
• Early Investors: Firms like Sequoia Capital and Genesis Partners, who had backed the company since its founding in 2008.
• SPAC Sponsor: The Israeli investment firm ION, which spearheaded the initial Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) merger that took Innovid public.

The institutional ownership was not highly concentrated, but the final vote showed that existing institutional investors, like the mentioned Deutsche Bank Ag, were content to take the cash premium.

Investor Influence: The Power of the Cash Offer

In a situation like this, investor influence maps directly to the cash offer's premium. The Innovid Corp. board unanimously approved the merger, urging shareholders to vote 'FOR' because the $3.15 per share price was a clear win, representing a 72% premium over the 90-day volume-weighted average price. This is the ultimate form of investor influence: a collective decision to realize immediate, guaranteed value.

The financial backdrop for this decision was a company projecting strong growth but facing intense competition. Analysts had forecast Innovid Corp.'s full-year 2025 revenue at approximately $181 million, an increase of 14% year-over-year, with Adjusted EBITDA expected to hit $33 million, up 21% year-over-year. Here's the quick math: the acquisition price essentially valued this projected growth at a level the public market wasn't willing to pay. The cash deal offered liquidity-immediate money-which is a powerful incentive, especially for a company in a rapidly evolving sector like Connected TV (CTV) ad-tech.

If you want to understand the strategic rationale behind the company's focus that led to this acquisition, you should review their Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Innovid Corp. (CTV).

What this estimate hides is the risk of a slowing advertising environment and intensifying competition, which the board and major shareholders defintely weighed when accepting the premium offer.

The key takeaway for any investor is that in small-cap, high-growth sectors like ad-tech, a cash acquisition at a significant premium often represents the best and most immediate return, regardless of strong forward-looking forecasts. Your next step, since the company is now private, is to track Mediaocean's strategy to see how they integrate Innovid's technology to assess the success of the deal.

Market Impact and Investor Sentiment

The investor profile for Innovid Corp. (CTV) in 2025 is not about who is buying on the open market; it's about the definitive cash-out: the company is being acquired by Mediaocean. This acquisition, expected to close around February 13, 2025, for a cash offer of $3.15 per share, completely reshaped shareholder sentiment from a growth-stock gamble to a near-term, fixed-return event.

Honestly, the sentiment is now neutral-positive. You aren't investing in future growth; you're just waiting for the check. Any significant trading volume post-announcement was likely arbitrage funds (arbs) buying shares under the offer price to lock in a small, low-risk return before the deal closes. This is a classic merger scenario.

The Acquisition: A Fixed-Return Event

The most crucial market reaction was the stock price immediately moving to trade near the $3.15 acquisition price, which was announced on November 21, 2024. The market essentially priced in the deal's certainty. For shareholders, the risk-reward calculation shifted from analyzing the Connected TV (CTV) ad market to assessing the deal's closing risk-which, in a cash offer, is usually low. The total shares outstanding were approximately 150,919,008 as of February 2025, giving the deal a clear valuation anchor.

This is defintely the end of the line for public investors, as Innovid Corp. (CTV) will be removed from indices like the Solactive US Broad Market Index effective February 13, 2025. You can read more about the company's journey in Innovid Corp. (CTV): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money.

• Stock price anchored to $3.15 cash offer.
• Sentiment shifted from growth to deal certainty.
• Trading halted and delisting expected February 13, 2025.

Analyst Consensus vs. Acquisition Value

Prior to the acquisition closing, the analyst consensus on Innovid Corp. (CTV) was a Hold rating as of November 13, 2025, based on the one analyst providing a rating. The average price target was around $3.00, though some forecasts ranged up to $3.14.

Here's the quick math: The acquisition price of $3.15 per share is a premium to the average analyst target, which is why the deal was a win for existing shareholders. It essentially validated the company's long-term potential in the CTV space but delivered the value immediately, bypassing the near-term market volatility. The analysts were already cautious, citing intensifying competition in AdTech and a slowing advertising environment.

The company's underlying financial trajectory was strong, which likely supported the premium acquisition price. For the 2025 fiscal year (FY25), the company was forecasted to achieve revenues of $181 million, representing a 14% year-over-year increase, and an Adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) of $33 million, a 21% year-over-year jump. This improving asset efficiency was a key factor in the valuation, even if the public market hadn't fully priced it in.

What this estimate hides is the true long-term value of the Harmony suite and other initiatives, which the acquirer, Mediaocean, now gets to capitalize on without the quarterly pressure of a public listing. The growth in CTV impressions by 18% in 2024 showed the platform was gaining traction, but the acquisition means public investors won't see the full realization of that growth.