Twitter received plenty of plaudits when it announced last month that it would buy MoPub, an advertising technology company, for $300 million.
In an amended prospectus for its eagerly awaited initial public offering, the social networking firm showed why it was willing to strike the deal.
On Tuesday, Twitter disclosed that MoPub reported $6.5 million in revenue for the six months ended June 30. That’s a nearly threefold increase over all the revenue that the ad company reported for 2012.
And MoPub’s net loss narrowed to $2.8 million for the first half of this year, down from $8.1 million last year.
What does MoPub do that has made it so valuable? The company focuses on mobile advertising, with two particular businesses: a real-time automated ad exchange, and a matchmaking service for advertisers and app developers that can help place ads within programs.
Twitter added that it expected the deal for MoPub to close next month.
Other new elements appeared in Twitter’s revised prospectus. One is the formal disclosure of a $1 billion five-year credit line that the company has secured from its underwriters and additional information on compensation for some executives. Banks leading initial public offerings are increasingly called upon to also provide financing to their clients.
Another is the disclosure of additional details for executive compensation. For instance, Twitter noted that its chief executive, Dick Costolo, signed an employment contract this month that sets his annual base salary at $14,000 a year. His overall pay, however, is expected to be comprised largely of stock awards.
Last year, Mr. Costolo took home $11.5 million in total compensation.
