Valuations, exits and the public players

Private arbitrage operators rarely publish numbers. A handful of listed companies must, and their filings are the best public record of how this industry actually performs. This lesson reads those records, then explains how buyers and investors value businesses of this kind. All figures are as reported by the companies in results statements or regulatory filings, and reflect what was public at the start of October 2026.

The public players

System1

System1 became a listed company in January 2022 by merging with a blank-cheque company, Trebia Acquisition Corp., in a deal announced at an enterprise value of about $1.4 billion. In June 2025 it carried out a 1-for-10 reverse share split, which it said was intended to meet the New York Stock Exchange's minimum price requirement.

Its 2025 results showed revenue down 23% to $266.1 million with adjusted EBITDA of $41.9 million and a net loss of $81.2 million. In 2026 it said it had significantly reduced marketing for search monetisation. Its quarterly report for the period to June 2026 stated that its main agreement with Google runs to 30 September 2027, that a second Google agreement was terminated by Google for convenience with effect from 10 February 2026, and that its cash and working-capital position raised substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. In May 2026 it agreed an exchange of its debt for cash, new term debt and preferred shares.

Perion Network

Perion's search business was long tied to Microsoft Bing. In 2024 Perion said Bing had changed pricing and mechanisms in its search distribution marketplace and then excluded a number of publishers, and that the Bing agreement was no longer material to the company. Search Advertising revenue fell 53% in 2024 and a further 44% in 2025, to $91.0 million. Total 2025 revenue was $439.9 million. Perion has rebuilt around other advertising products, and its non-search revenue grew in 2025.

Team Internet Group

Team Internet, formerly CentralNic, owns domain businesses and a search segment that includes parking and feed brands. Google's move away from parked-domain ads forced a shift to Related Search on Content. For the first half of 2026 it reported gross revenue of $179.1 million, net revenue of $61.0 million and adjusted EBITDA of $19.5 million. Search revenue was $48.3 million, down 63%, and the company said the segment returned to profit in June 2026. It has been running a strategic review of its domains, identity and software division.

Inuvo and IAC

Inuvo reported net revenue of $86.2 million for 2025. In the second quarter of 2026 revenue was $7.5 million, down 67%, which it attributed to an 80% fall in what it calls Legacy Search revenue after a 2025 reset of its platform and wider changes in the industry. It reported less than $1 million of unrestricted cash at the end of June 2026 and said it had completed financings raising about $13 million.

IAC's Search segment, mostly Ask Media Group, relied on a Google services agreement first signed in 2015. Google gave notice of non-renewal in December 2025. After a one-month extension the agreement expired on 30 April 2026, and IAC said it ceased Search operations and would present the segment as discontinued.

How buyers value an arbitrage business

A business is commonly valued as a multiple of its yearly profit, often EBITDA. The multiple reflects how confident a buyer is that the profit will still be there in future. Arbitrage businesses get lower multiples than ordinary software or media companies for reasons that follow directly from this track.

• The revenue is not owned. It depends on a feed contract that can end, often at short notice.
• Concentration risk. One search engine and one or two traffic platforms account for nearly everything.
• Low net revenue relative to gross. Most of the headline revenue is passed on as TAC.
• Earnings quality. Profit can include revenue that may later be clawed back.
• No lasting asset. Campaigns expire. There is rarely a subscriber base or a brand that customers seek out.
• Key-person dependence. The profit may follow a few skilled buyers out of the door.

A simple illustration with invented numbers shows the effect. Two companies each make $2 million of EBITDA. One is a software firm with customers on annual contracts, and a buyer might pay a high multiple because the profit is expected to recur. The other is an arbitrage operator on a single feed. A buyer applying a multiple of two would pay $4 million and would still want protection, because one email could make the $2 million disappear. The exact multiples in any real deal depend on the buyer and the moment. The gap between the two kinds of business is the point.

What exits look like in practice

Buyers will check the things this academy teaches. Expect requests for the feed contract and its change-of-control clause, since a feed may not transfer to a new owner without consent. Expect a comparison of estimated and finalised revenue over time, the traffic sources and their approval status, the policy record, and independent evidence of traffic quality.