Interpublic Group (IPG) agreed to acquire Acxiom Marketing Solutions (AMS) in a cash transaction valued at $2.3 billion. Citi and JPMorgan served as financial advisors and provided committed debt financing to support the merger.
IPG has a fully committed $2.3 billion bridge facility and expects to obtain long-term financing to fund the transaction in the debt capital markets before closing.
The deal combines IPG’s media, creative and marketing services and analytics capabilities with AMS’s expertise in data management. With the acquisition, the Acxiom brand name will become part of the IPG portfolio, but will not include the LiveRamp business of Acxiom.
Dennis Self and Rick Erwin will continue to serve as co-presidents of AMS, which will remain a stand-alone division, aligned with IPG Mediabrands, reporting into Arun Kumar, IPG’s chief data and marketing technology officer.
“In a world where everything is becoming data-driven, Acxiom Marketing Solutions offers the deepest set of capabilities for helping companies navigate the complexity of creating personalized brand experiences across every consumer touchpoint,” said Michael Roth, IPG’s Chairman and CEO.
The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is anticipated to close before year-end 2018. Completion of the transaction is subject to approval by Acxiom’s stockholders, as well as customary regulatory approvals.
Willkie Farr & Gallagher served as legal advisor to IPG.
Interpublic Group oversees numerous advertising agencies and marketing services companies. Major global brands include, among others, Craft, FutureBrand, Golin, Huge, Initiative, Jack Morton, MAGNA, McCann, Momentum, MullenLowe Group, Octagon and Weber Shandwick.
Acxiom Marketing Solutions is the leading provider of data solutions for delivering real-time customer experiences, and includes all of Acxiom’s data and data services.
