Orange Buys U.K. Ad Network Firm Unanimis

European telco provider Orange France Telecom has purchased U.K.-based digital ad sales house Unanimis as it seeks to build out the advertising side of its business. Orange says it hopes to double revenues outside of its traditional call and text charge streams, from 9 percent to 20 percent in 2012. It described advertising as a "key strand" in that growth.

According to Orange, the addition of Unanimis's roster of publisher sites to its existing mobile and Web properties will allow it to reach over 70 percent of U.K. users, and 66 percent of users across the U.K., France, Spain, and Poland combined. Unanimis currently handles sales across a number of high-profile U.K.-focused sites, including broadcaster Five's online properties, classified listing site Gumtree, and online booking service Ticketmaster.

In a company statement, Orange Advertising Executive VP Paul Francois Fournier said the acquisition would "enable [Orange] to accelerate plans for growth from the mobile and online environment."

Unanimis will continue to operate under its brand name, but will become part of the Orange Group Advertising Network which includes Orange's ad assets across PC, mobile, and TV platforms.