LiveRamp, a San Francisco marketing-services company owned by Acxiom Corp., filed paperwork Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission detailing its purchase of two companies that will expand its online marketing.
Acxiom said it will pay $140 million in cash and another $50 million in Acxiom stock for New York-based Arbor and Philadelphia-based Circulate, Acxiom said in a Form 8K with the SEC. Such forms are required whenever a company has a major event that shareholders should know about.
First announced Nov. 17, the deal is expected to contribute $5 million in revenue for the company in fiscal 2017 and about $15 million in fiscal 2018, Acxiom said.
"This is a huge win for the LiveRamp ecosystem and the biggest set of actions we could have taken to increase the value of our network and thereby deliver more value to our clients and partners," Travis May, LiveRamp's president and general manager, said in a statement.
Arbor and Circulate will double LiveRamp's publisher partnerships to more than 450, Acxiom said. The deal is expected to be completed in five months.
Zacks Equity Research said the purchase of Arbor and Circulate will help LiveRamp better compete against Facebook and Google.
"With mobile and online channels increasingly gaining popularity, having a wide reach is of utmost importance," Zacks said the day after the deal was announced. "The acquisitions thus seem aptly timed to fulfill that goal. Moreover, the LiveRamp platform will be able to deliver more value to its partners and clients."
The privately held Arbor was founded in 2014 and has about 20 employees. It works with about 100 publishers and 25 data buyers.
Circulate, also privately held, was founded in 2009. It also has about 20 employees and works with more than 300 publishers and 25 data buyers.
Acxiom on Nov. 7 posted a second-quarter profit of $7.1 million, down from $10.7 million for the same period a year ago.
Earnings per share was 9 cents for the period ending Sept. 30, compared with 14 cents per share during the second quarter last year.
Acxiom collects information about consumers from public records, shopping habits and other sources to help clients create targeted marketing campaigns.
Acxiom acquired LiveRamp in 2014 to help in the collection of offline data for marketing applications.
Business on 11/24/2016