Publicis agrees to acquire LiveRamp for about $2.2 billion

On May 17, 2026, Publicis Groupe announced an agreement to acquire LiveRamp for $38.50 per share in cash, which values the company at an enterprise value of $2.167 billion. Publicis said the price is a 29.8% premium to LiveRamp’s closing share price on May 15, 2026.

What Publicis says it is buying

• Publicis said it aims to become a leader in data co-creation by combining LiveRamp’s data collaboration (clean room) technology with the identity capabilities of its Epsilon business, so clients can build better AI agents through secure collaboration across partners.
• It described LiveRamp as having 1,300 employees, connections to more than 25,000 publisher domains and more than 500 technology partners across 14 markets, and a five-year compound annual growth rate of 13%. These are the buyer’s figures.
• LiveRamp is to keep its brand and leadership: chief executive Scott Howe continues in the role, reporting to Publicis chairman and chief executive Arthur Sadoun, and Publicis says LiveRamp will operate as a neutral, interoperable platform.

Status

Publicis expects the deal to close before the end of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals, approval by LiveRamp shareholders and other customary conditions.

Shareholder vote

At a special meeting on August 17, 2026, LiveRamp stockholders adopted the merger agreement: 51,578,202 shares voted for and 60,073 against, out of 60,786,315 shares outstanding on the June 18, 2026 record date. In a separate, non-binding advisory vote, stockholders did not approve the merger-related compensation for LiveRamp’s executives (7,304,002 for, 44,262,875 against). The sources we reviewed do not say whether regulatory approvals have been received or whether the deal has closed.