IPG has confirmed its acquisition of international database marketing company Acxiom for $USD 2.3 billion ($AUD 3.13bn).
The deal combines IPG's media, creative, marketing services and analytics capabilities, global scale and consumer insights, with Acxiom's experience in data management.
The Acxiom brand name will become part of the IPG portfolio.
Locally Acxiom is headed up Dean Capobianco.
The sale does not include Acxiom's newest division, Liveramp, which recently appointed Esther Carlsen to the role of MD here in Australia. See: Esther Carlsen on her next move at Acxiom.
"In a world where everything is becoming data-driven, Acxiom Marketing Solutions (AMS) offers the deepest set of capabilities for helping companies navigate the complexity of creating personalized brand experiences across every consumer touchpoint," IPG CEO Michael Roth says.
"Over the last year of working closely with AMS to power our AMP data platform, we've seen that our cultures are a great fit, and we've also seen that the combination creates value for our clients, as it will for our shareholders."
Acxiom employs approximately 2,100 employees, including 1,600 data specialists, more than 2,000 clients and manages more than 20 billion customer records.
Dennis Self and Rick Erwin will continue to serve as co-presidents of Acxiom, which will remain a stand-alone division, aligned with IPG Mediabrands, reporting into Arun Kumar, IPG's chief data and marketing technology officer.
"After careful consideration of a variety of options and potential partners, it became clear that a sale of Acxiom to IPG, with its scale and breadth of complementary services, represented the best possible path forward for our clients and associates," Acxiom CEO Scott Howe says.
Acxiom offers clients services across data strategy, management, analytics and audience creation.
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