Cox buys ad start-up for $300 million

Online-ad platform Adify has been sold to Cox Enterprises for $300 million, according to a PaidContent.org report citing unnamed sources.

Adify, which is used by the online arms of the Guardian, Forbes, NBC Weather Plus, and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, helps other companies develop their own ad networks, according to the PaidContent report.

Investors in the San Bruno, Calif.-based start-up include NBC Universal, US Venture Partners, Venrock Associates, and Time Warner. Adify has raised $27 million in two rounds of funding. The privately held Cox Enterprises owns Cox Newspapers and Cox Communications, the third-largest cable company in the United States.