Acxiom secures $310m big data deal

Acxiom has splashed the cash – a cool £184m ($310m) to be precise – to boost its ability to match offline customer details with online data by acquiring San Francisco-based start-up LiveRamp.
The cash deal is expected to be finalised in the next month and is, in the words of Acxiom chief executive Scott Howe, “a win for the entire marketing industry.”
Set up in 2012, LiveRamp specialises in unlocking data from CRM systems and other marketing applications in a process known in the IT world as “data onboarding”. The company claims to have moved 3 billion customer records online since it launched.
The move is part of Acxiom’s key strategy of linking on and offline data, and collectively the two companies have relationships with more than 7,000 global brands and partnerships with the world’s premier technology platforms and media providers.
Acxiom now claims it has the data to reach more than 99% of the adult US population with relevant and targeted messages across all channels and devices. Over the next 12 months, Acxiom and LiveRamp expect to expand this capability globally, most specifically in Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Howe said: “This is a win for the entire marketing industry. This deal brings together the world’s leading marketing data company with the emerging leader in data onboarding to create the industry’s most comprehensive network of connections.
“Together, we will accelerate our vision of a connected ecosystem that delivers true one-to-one marketing at scale. The combination should help virtually everyone in the industry achieve better connections, better insights and better results.”
LiveRamps’ 70 staff will switch over, with chief executive Auren Hoffman continuing to lead the team. He said: “We believe the combination will help us reach our goal of making every marketing application more valuable through the power of connected data.”