AOL snapped up US firm Millennial Media, as owner Verizon looks to further boost its credentials in mobile advertising.

While AOL was acquired at the end of June by Verizon in a $4.4 billion takeover, the current deal is on a somewhat smaller scale. Millennial Media is being bought by AOL for $238 million including debt, something of a comedown for the former high flying firm.

As Re/code points out, Millennial staged an IPO in only 2012 when it was valued at $1.87 billion. There is a feeling that old-school mobile ad firms such as Millennial placed too much reliance on selling banner advertising on the mobile web.

However, in a statement, AOL talked up what Millennial offers, including “a leading supply-side platform for app monetisation with over 65,000 apps”.

Other benefits include Millennial’s mobile brand advertising scale, access to “approximately one billion global active unique users”, as well as cross-screen targeting capabilities.

The firm also has a position in mobile markets internationally, including Singapore, Japan, UK, France and Germany, and engineering, sales and product teams that specialise in mobile.

The transaction will take the form of a tender followed by a merger, with Millennial Media becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL upon completion. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions, and is expected to close this autumn.