French advertising giant, Publicis Groupe, has announced its agreement to acquire U.S.-based data collaboration firm, LiveRamp, in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $2.2 billion. The company made the announcement Yesterday.
The acquisition marks another major step in Publicis’ long-term strategy to strengthen its data and AI capabilities, enabling brands to target consumers more effectively in an increasingly competitive digital advertising landscape.
LiveRamp provides a secure data collaboration platform that allows businesses to connect and analyse customer, media, and advertising datasets without directly sharing personal information. The company currently works with more than 25,000 publisher domains and over 500 technology and data partners across 14 markets, employing around 1,300 people globally.
Speaking on the acquisition, Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun, described the move as part of the company’s commitment to staying ahead of rapid industry changes driven by artificial intelligence and evolving market conditions.
He said the deal would strengthen Publicis’ position in the growing “agentic transformation” market, where AI agents automate and manage business workflows.
“We truly need LiveRamp to win a fair share of this agentic transformation market,” He said, adding that the acquisition represents a significant strategic shift for the company.
Publicis has spent years expanding its data-driven advertising business, notably through its $4.4 billion acquisition of Epsilon in 2019. That strategy has helped the French group widen the gap with traditional rivals, surpassing competitors such as WPP and Omnicom to become the world’s most valuable advertising company by market capitalisation.
Under the terms of the agreement, Publicis will pay $38.50 per share for LiveRamp, representing a 29.8% premium over the company’s closing stock price on May 15, the last trading day before the announcement.
The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to contribute positively to Publicis’ earnings from the first year after consolidation. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2026, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.
Alongside the announcement, Publicis also raised its financial outlook for 2027 and 2028, increasing its constant-currency growth targets for net revenue to 7%–8% and headline earnings per share to 8%–10%.
LiveRamp specialises in “data collaboration,” a process that enables companies to jointly build and securely share data models and insights. These capabilities are increasingly seen as critical for developing advanced AI-powered and automated marketing systems.