Arkansas-based Acxiom weighing options that include selling some units

Acxiom Corp. will explore a range of business options, including selling some of its older segments, Scott Howe, chief executive officer of the Conway-based data marketer, said this week in a news release and in the firm's conference call with analysts.

The options include a strategic partnership, a tax-free merger or spinoff, a joint venture or other combinations, Howe said.

Acxiom is considering combinations with businesses that include its marketing segment and its data segment, said Brett Huff, an analyst with Stephens Inc. who covers Acxiom. There is no effort to sell the entire company, Huff said.

"While a sale is only one of the potential alternatives, I do think a sale could benefit a number of constituencies [including] investors," said Huff, who owns no stock in Acxiom. Acxiom has been a client of Stephens for investment banking services in the past year.

With a sale of part of its business, Acxiom could unlock hidden value in the company, Huff said.

"Sometimes when a company with a couple of different business models gets separated into two companies, each with a single business model, it's easier to manage efficiently, and easier to identify opportunities for growth and invest in those opportunities," Huff said.

Sometimes companies do such reviews confidentially and sometimes publicly, Jerry Jones, Acxiom's general counsel, said in an interview. Jones' responsibilities also include assisting in the strategy and execution of mergers and alliances.

Announcing the review publicly allows Acxiom to consider a range of ideas that it may not have had by itself, Jones said.

Huff said that determining which of the various combinations Acxiom may take is difficult.

"But a sale, joint venture, a merger or the variety of other alternatives they said they are considering all seem plausible," Huff said.

Acxiom hired two New York-based investment banking firms -- Morgan Stanley and Evercore -- to provide advice on Acxiom's options.

Acxiom is not committing to a specific timetable to make changes, Warren Jenson, chief financial officer, told analysts. And the company intends to provide updates only when conducting quarterly conference calls, Jenson said.

Shares of Acxiom rose 75 cents to close Friday at $26.78 on the Nasdaq exchange.

Acxiom's stock price has moved from a 52-week high of $29.75 last February to a low of $21.80 in August.

Acxiom's total shares are worth about $2.1 billion.

On Tuesday, the company reported a net income of $22.9 million in its third quarter that ended Dec. 31, up from $1.1 million in earnings in the third quarter the previous year. But net income in the recent quarter was aided by the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which lowered the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent.

Acxiom's revenue for nine months was $673 million, up from $655 million in the same period the previous year.

Acxiom also said it plans to realign its business into two distinct units -- LiveRamp and Acxiom Marketing Solutions.

Acxiom doesn't typically identify its clients by name but said they include nine of the top 10 insurance providers, and telecommunication and media companies; eight of the top 10 automakers and domestic hotel companies; and seven of the top 10 retail banks, credit card issuers and retailers. Acxiom did not describe the criteria for the rankings.

On the conference call, Acxiom said it had added new customers Toyota Corp. and Fair Square Financial, a newly formed credit-card company that does business as Ollo card services.

Business on 02/10/2018

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