Pandora are expanding their ad tech with the acquisition of AdsWizz, who happen to cater to some of their biggest streaming rivals.

Pandora have just revealed the acquisition of digital audio advertisers AdsWizz. The purchase comes as part of the music streamer’s move into advertising and sees them take ownership of their business which currently works with digital music competitors Spotify, Deezer, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn among others.

Pandora acquired the California based tech startup AdsWizz for $145 million in at least half cash and the rest in stock and officially announced the purchase on Wednesday. Whilst AdsWizz will continue to operate as their own independent company, helmed by CEO Alexis van de Wyer, they will be used to power Pandora’s digital audio ad sales which is a business they’ve become increasingly interested in.

Pandora’s new CEO Roger Lynch said in a statement: “Since I joined Pandora six months ago, I have highlighted ad tech as a key area of investment for us. Today we took an important step to advance that priority and accelerate our product roadmap.” Last year Pandora revealed that for the 4th quarter of 2017 their subscription service made $97.7 million whilst advertising funded listening generated $297.7 million

Lynch continued, saying: “With our scale in advertising and AdsWizz’s tech expertise, we will create the largest digital audio advertising ecosystem, better serving global publishers and advertisers while improving Pandora’s own monetisation capabilities.”

AdsWizz CEO, Alexis van de Wyer said himself: “For the last 10 years, our mission at AdsWizz has been to enable the global monetisation of digital audio by building innovative advertising technologies for music streaming services, digital broadcasters and podcasters. We believe in providing value to all stakeholders – brands, publishers and listeners – through engaging and well-targeted advertising experiences.”

Neither company have touched on AdsWizz’s business with Pandora rivals and it isn’t clear if they will continue to work together un-conflicted.