Acxiom Corp (ACXM) Tops Q4 EPS by 4c; Will Acquire LiveRamp in $310M Deal

Acxiom Corp (NASDAQ: ACXM) reported Q4 EPS of $0.24, $0.04 better than the analyst estimate of $0.20. Revenue for the quarter came in at $277 million versus the consensus estimate of $278.57 million.

The company also announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately held LiveRamp, a leading service for onboarding customer data into digital marketing applications, for approximately $310 million in cash.

Through the acquisition of LiveRamp, Acxiom will expand its capability to bridge the gap between offline data and the rapidly growing universe of online marketing applications with better matching, more connectivity and faster onboarding. Acxiom is committed to maintaining an open and neutral onboarding service for the entire marketing ecosystem, helping to make every technology platform better by providing access to more data in a private and secure manner.

“This is a win for the entire marketing industry,” said Acxiom CEO Scott Howe. “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.”

Collectively, Acxiom and LiveRamp have relationships with more than 7,000 global customers and partnerships with the world’s premier technology platforms and media providers. The combined industry-leading capabilities will allow the ecosystem to reach more than 99 percent of the adult U.S. population with relevant and targeted messages across all channels and devices. Over the coming twelve months, Acxiom and LiveRamp expect to expand this capability globally, most specifically in Europe and Asia-Pacific.

“Joining Acxiom is a real win for our customers, partners and employees,” said LiveRamp CEO Auren Hoffman. “We look forward to having access to Acxiom’s extensive resources, talent and technology and believe the combination will help us reach our goal of making every marketing application more valuable through the power of connected data.”

LiveRamp Brings to Acxiom

-- A leading service for data onboarding, empowering customers and partners to connect data across the marketing ecosystem
-- A growing base of over 200 customers, including some of the world’s largest brands in retail, communications, entertainment and financial services
-- An expansive partner network, with seamless integrations to nearly 100 of the leading marketing technology companies
-- One of the fastest growing companies in the digital marketing space, having grown revenue triple digits in each of the last two years
-- A richly talented team of approximately 70 employees based in San Francisco, California. LiveRamp will maintain its office in San Francisco and Auren Hoffman will continue to lead the LiveRamp team.

Financial Impact of the Proposed LiveRamp Acquisition

Total consideration is $310 million in cash.

The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close mid-summer.

The acquisition will be dilutive on both a GAAP and non-GAAP basis. Overall fiscal 2015 guidance will be given during the company’s fiscal 2014 year-end earnings call to be held today at 4:00 p.m. CDT.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Acxiom Corp (ACXM) click here.

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