On Sunday, Publicis Groupe entered into an agreement to acquire LiveRamp, a US data company, for $2.2 billion, in an all-cash transaction.
LiveRamp is a global data collaboration platform that provides companies with data management and activation across the digital ecosystem, connecting publisher, technology and data partners.
In a presentation on the announcement, Publicis Groupe shared that the acquisition will facilitate the generation of new data sets to enable the creation of more intelligent agents for clients.
LiveRamp will work in tandem with the Groupe’s wider ecosystem of Publicis Sapient, Epsilon, and Marcel, while operating as a “neutral, interoperable platform,” with customers not prohibited from accessing its services.
The deal is the advertising giant’s latest move to expand its data capabilities, following its acquisition of Epsilon in 2019, and comes against the backdrop of what Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun called a “difficult global context,” and the challenges of AI.
Commenting on the acquisition, Sadoun said: “By building the future of data co-creation, we’re empowering our clients to generate new, exclusive and proprietary data, to build the smartest, most differentiated AI agents on top of the leading LLMs,” adding: “It will be valuable for our clients’ business growth, and a new addressable market for Publicis.”
Meanwhile, LiveRamp said that the Publicis acquisition will provide the resources for scale and innovation.
Following the acquisition, expected to close by the end of the year, subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, LiveRamp will continue to be headed by CEO Scott Howe, who will report to Publicis Groupe CEO Sadoun.
