Japanese holding company Dentsu Aegis Network has agreed to acquire a majority stake in data marketing company Merkle.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the Wall Street Journal reported the deal is worth $1.5 billion (£1.1 billion).
Columbia, Maryland-based Merkle emphasized that it is the largest independent data analytics, CRM, and performance marketing provider in the U.S. It has more than 2,900 employees and reported that it generated $436 million (£334.5 million) in revenue in 2015, up 14 percent over the prior year.
London-based Dentsu Aegis Network said Merkle will become one of the network’s leading agency brands. The company said the acquisition is expected to deliver “significant revenue growth opportunities” and accelerate Dentsu Aegis strategy to become completely digital by 2020 across its businesses.
“The growth of the digital economy is one of the few certainties in an uncertain world,” said Jerry Buhlmann, CEO of Dentsu Aegis, in a statement. “Merkle brings a powerful range of data-led, fully addressable and real-time capabilities. The combination of our two businesses will create a compelling offer in that context for existing and potential clients.”
Dentsu Aegis Network recently announced that it acquired B2B powerhouse agency Gyro.
