• by Laurie Sullivan , Yesterday

Publicis Groupe announced the acquisition of LiveRamp on Sunday. The company structured the sale on an all-cash deal, which means no shares of Publicis stock are being issued to LiveRamp shareholders.

"LiveRamp joining Publicis Groupe is the latest demonstration of our commitment to investing in new talent and innovation, ahead of market shifts,” stated Arthur Sadoun, chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe. 

Under the terms of the agreement, Publicis will acquire LiveRamp for a total enterprise value of $2.167 billion in an all-cash transaction, based on an acquisition price of $38.50 per share, the company explained in a press release.

The transaction represents a total equity value of $2.546 billion and includes acquired net cash of $379 million.

The acquisition puts Publicis in another category for agencies supporting addressable ad targeting, and furthers its investment in technology, data, and AI and agentic services.   

The acquisition is expected to be accretive to Publicis Groupe’s headline earnings per share (EPS) from the first year of consolidation, excluding transaction-related costs.

With this acquisition, Publicis raised its 2027 and 2028 constant currency growth objectives from between 7% and 8% for net revenue, and between 8% and 10% for headline EPS, versus previous objectives of between 6% and 7%, and between 7% and 9%, respectively.

The transaction has been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of both Publicis Groupe and LiveRamp.

LiveRamp's data, ad targeting, and agentic expertise were noted for reasons behind the acquisition. "Data co-creation is the process by which companies connect multiple high-value data sources across partners in a secure environment," the release stated. "This generates new data assets that the companies could not build alone. This co-created data is a proprietary asset that drives a competitive edge for clients at a time when 93% of companies lack the right data for AI success."

The deal was announced on the same day that LiveRamp reported its fourth-quarter and full-year fiscal 2026 results, and rather than a solo conference call to discuss earnings, the two companies will hold a joint conference call on Monday to discuss the transaction.

For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026, LiveRamp posted total revenue of $813 million -- up 9% year-over-year. Subscription revenue came in at $614 million, up 8%, and Marketplace and Other revenue reached $199 million, up 12%.

Annualized recurring revenue came in at $545 million, up 8%; with subscription net retention improving to 107%.

For Publicis, the acquisition follows a need to build out its services following the 2019 purchase of Epsilon for $4.4 billion and March 2025 acquisition of Lotame.

Publicis combined Lotame's identity graph and Epsilon's existing multibillion consumer global profiles for ad targeting.

LiveRamp provides another layer of data and expands on its clean room services for its audience and identity stack.

Following the acquisition, LiveRamp will continue as a separate company led by CEO Scott Howe, who will report directly to Sadoun.  

LiveRamp is expected to benefit from additional investment and expanded innovation capabilities, while maintaining interoperability, and trusted neutrality that clients, publishers and partners have worked with for years.