AcuityAds Founders Accept Offer to Sell a Combined 1 Million Shares on the Open Market

/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES/

TORONTO and NEW YORK, Nov. 21, 2016 /CNW/ - Nathan Mekuz and The Nathan Mekuz Family Trust, Tal Hayek and The Tal Hayek Family Trust, Rachel Kapcan and The Rachel Kapcan Family Trust, and Joe Ontman (each, a "Shareholder", and collectively, the "Shareholders") announced today that on November 18, 2016, each Shareholder transferred 250,000 common shares (the "Disposed Shares") of AcuityAds Holdings Inc. ("Acuity") into trading accounts with Haywood Securities Inc. ("Haywood"), and sold the Disposed Shares to Haywood at a price of $2.00 per share for total gross sale proceeds of $500,000 per Shareholder. The Shareholders each paid Haywood a fee of 3% of the total amount paid to the Shareholder.

"As very significant shareholders of AcuityAds, the four founders have recognized that in order to support the demand we are getting from investors across North America and lack of available shares for purchase, it was deemed advisable to dispose a relatively small amount of our founder shares into the market," said Tal Hayek, the CEO of AcuityAds. "As founders, we continue to own over 13.5 million shares in AcuityAds and we are more bullish than ever about the future of our business, as we continue our aggressive growth both organically and through acquisitions. As part of this share disposal, the Chairman of the Company purchased 50,000 shares."  

As of November 21, 2016, Acuity reports that there are 25,665,000 common shares outstanding, 2,506,468 stock options to purchase common shares outstanding, 763,265 deferred share units outstanding, and 1,166,667 common share purchase warrants outstanding.

Prior to the completion of the transaction, Nathan Mekuz and The Nathan Mekuz Family Trust beneficially owned 3,934,887 common shares of Acuity.  After giving effect to the transaction, he beneficially owns and controls 3,684,887 common shares of Acuity, representing approximately 14.36% of the outstanding common shares of Acuity and 12.24% of the outstanding common shares of Acuity on a fully-diluted basis.

Prior to the completion of the transaction, Tal Hayek and The Tal Hayek Family Trust beneficially owned 4,059,104 common shares of Acuity.  After giving effect to the transaction, he beneficially owns and controls 3,809,104 common shares of Acuity, representing approximately 14.84% of the outstanding common shares of Acuity and 12.65% of the outstanding common shares of Acuity on a fully-diluted basis.

Prior to the completion of the transaction, Rachel Kapcan and The Rachel Kapcan Family Trust beneficially owned 3,782,187 common shares of Acuity.  After giving effect to the transaction, she beneficially owns and controls 3,532,187 common shares of Acuity, representing approximately 13.76% of the outstanding common shares of Acuity and 11.73% of the outstanding common shares of Acuity on a fully-diluted basis.

Prior to the completion of the transaction, Joe Ontman beneficially owned 3,784,237 common shares of Acuity.  After giving effect to the transaction, he beneficially owns and controls 3,534,237 common shares of Acuity, representing approximately 13.77% of the outstanding common shares of Acuity and 11.74% of the outstanding common shares of Acuity on a fully-diluted basis.

The Shareholders advise that the Disposed Shares were sold for investment purposes. The Shareholders may individually purchase additional common shares of Acuity or sell common shares of Acuity presently held by them from time to time in one or more transactions in their discretion based on market conditions and other factors that they deem relevant.

This press release is being issued pursuant to National Instrument 62-103 – The Early Warning System and Related Take-Over Bid and Insider Reporting Issuers which requires a report to be filed under Acuity's profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) containing additional information respecting the foregoing matters. A copy of the Shareholders' reports may be obtained by contacting Acuity at:

Tal Hayek
c/o AcuityAds Holdings Inc.
181 Bay Street, Suite 320, Brookfield Place
Toronto, Ontario
M5J 2T3

Each Shareholder can be reached at the following address:

AcuityAds Holdings Inc.
181 Bay Street, Suite 320, Brookfield Place
Toronto, Ontario
M5J 2T3

About AcuityAds
AcuityAds is a technology company that enables marketers to connect intelligently with their most meaningful audiences through digital media. A Self-Serve programmatic marketing platform, powered by proprietary machine learning technology, is at the core of its business, accompanied by a patented solution for mobile targeting that leverages social data. AcuityAds empowers marketers by offering transparency on costs and brand safety, and real-time reporting and analytics, bringing accountability to programmatic advertising to deliver business results.

AcuityAds is headquartered in Toronto, Canada with sales offices in New York City, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal.  For more information, visit AcuityAds.com.

Disclaimer in regards to Forward-looking Statements
Certain statements included herein constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, AcuityAds does not intend, and undertakes no obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect, in particular, new information or future events.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE AcuityAds Inc.

Babak Pedram, Investor Relations, Virtus Advisory Group Inc., 416-644-5081, [email protected]; Tal Hayek, Chief Executive Officer, AcuityAds Holdings Inc., 416-218-9888, [email protected]