PUBLICIS GROUPE FINALIZES THE ACQUISITION
OF EPSILON
- With the acquisition of Epsilon, Publicis Groupe
is completing its transformation to become the industry leader in
delivering personalized experiences at scale.
- Placed at the heart of Publicis Groupe’s organization,
Epsilon will turbocharge its creative, media and technology
operations to accelerate growth.
- The transaction is positive for shareholders, with
an accretion of 12.5% on Headline EPS1 and 18.3% for Free Cash
Flow2, excluding any transaction-related synergies.
PARIS, July 2,
2019 – Publicis Groupe (Euronext Paris: FR0000130577, CAC
40) today announced the completion of the acquisition
of data-driven marketing
company, Epsilon, from Alliance Data
Systems Corporation (NYSE: ADS), at a net value of 3.95
billion dollars after tax step- up, implying an 8.2 times
Adjusted EBITDA multiple. Based on pro-forma 2018 numbers,
the transaction is 12.5% accretive to headline EPS and 18.3% to
Free Cash Flow, excluding any transaction-related synergies.
Arthur Sadoun, Chairman and CEO of
Publicis Groupe, stated: “We are very pleased to have
finalised the closing of the Epsilon acquisition in record
time, at a very compelling price, creating immediate value for
our shareholders. This acquisition completes our sets of assets
harmoniously, with data capabilities that are second to none, and
propels the Groupe as the global leader of personalized experiences
at scale.
With the addition of Epsilon’s capabilities in
data to our existing creative, media and technology firepower, we
have all the necessary assets and talent to help our clients
leapfrog their competition and grow profitably, in a data-led,
digital-first world.
Our clients will benefit from a seamless,
end-to-end service to solve all their marketing and transformation
challenges across creative, media, data and technology.
Our focus in the next months will be to
successfully execute the integration while implementing our model,
the Power of One, with our clients.
Over the last few weeks, client feedback has
been overwhelmingly positive, showing a huge amount of interest and
demand that we will now be able to address. All of this gives
us great confidence for the future.”
Integration
Since the signing was first announced, many meetings
between the Publicis Groupe and Epsilon teams have taken place,
laying the foundations of the integration, based on three key
principles:
- Epsilon will be at the core of Publicis
Groupe
Epsilon will become the unique data-tech
platform of Publicis Groupe, to deliver personalization at scale.
Its expertise in onboarding, enriching and activating clients’
first party data, its unique data sets and its vertical expertise
in the Auto sector will be placed at the core of the Groupe. The
very successful Publicis PeopleCloud platform and related
activities will be folded into Epsilon.
It will be run by its current CEO Bryan Kennedy,
who will join the Groupe Executive Committee and report directly to
Arthur Sadoun.
Synergies will be created by combining Epsilon’s
creative agency businesses with Publicis Communications North
America, while CJ Affiliate will be aligned with Publicis Media to
leverage its growth potential.
- Epsilon will turbocharge all of Publicis
Groupe’s operations
The integration of Epsilon will accelerate the
seamless implementation of the Power of One for the benefit of our
clients.
Publicis
Communications will leverage Epsilon’s customer
insights to improve ideation and build more relevant campaigns, and
will power Epsilon’s Dynamic Creative Engine to adapt to real-time
consumer context.
Publicis Media’s billions of
touchpoints will be connected with Epsilon’s data sets to provide
superior intelligence to build consumer IDs, segment audiences and
maximize media buying ROI.
Publicis Sapient will gain
access to deep proprietary customer insights to optimize their
clients’ organization and business model.
And Publicis
Health will partner with Epsilon’s health practice to
deliver outcomes-based measurement and optimization across
strategic, creative and media engagements.
3.
Unlocking growth
Every Publicis Groupe client will be able to access Epsilon
through their Groupe Client Leaders. This will be effective
immediately in the US and will ramp up internationally in the
months to come.
The integration plan is focused on
unlocking growth: 6 strategic workstreams have been defined, to
address subjects ranging from the definition of ‘a go to market’
approach to lead the change in the industry, to how Publicis
Groupe is able to leverage Epsilon’s incredibly talented teams of
engineers and data experts in India with its own Publicis
Sapient-led expertise in the region.
All other integration topics including data
privacy, real estate, support functions or shared services are
covered by 19 operational task forces.
Financial details of the
acquisition
Publicis Groupe financed the acquisition of
Epsilon through the successful placement of 2.25 billion euros
bonds in three tranches on June 5, 2019, combined with a term loan
and the use of 650 million dollars of cash on the Groupe’s balance
sheet.
The financing of the transaction aims
to maintain a financial profile in line with current BBB+ /
Baa2 ratings, with full deleveraging four years after completion of
the transaction. Publicis Groupe remains committed to its
current dividend pay-out of 45%.
Publicis Groupe will begin consolidating
Epsilon’s financial results as of July 1, 2019.
Upcoming events
Half year results: July 18th, 2019 post market
close.
About Publicis Groupe - The Power of One
Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris
FR0000130577, CAC 40] is a global leader in marketing,
communication, and digital transformation, driven through the
alchemy of creativity and technology. Publicis Groupe offers its
clients seamless access to its tools and expertise through modular
offering. Publicis Groupe is organized across four Solutions hubs:
Publicis Communications (Publicis Worldwide, Saatchi &
Saatchi, Leo Burnett, BBH, Marcel, Fallon, MSL, Prodigious),
Publicis Media (Starcom, Zenith, Spark Foundry, Blue 449,
Performics, Digitas), Publicis Sapient and Publicis Health. Present
in over 100 countries, Publicis Groupe employs nearly 75,000
professionals.
www.publicisgroupe.com | Twitter : @PublicisGroupe | Facebook |
LinkedIn | YouTube | Viva la Difference!
About Epsilon
Epsilon® is an all-encompassing global marketing
innovator providing unrivaled data intelligence and customer
insights, world-class technology including loyalty, email and CRM
platforms and data-driven creative, activation and execution.
Epsilon’s digital media arm, Conversant®, is a leader in
personalized digital advertising and insights through its
proprietary technology and trove of consumer marketing data,
delivering digital marketing with unprecedented scale, accuracy and
reach through personalized media programs and through CJ
AffiliateTM, one of the world’s largest affiliate marketing
networks. For more information,
visit www.epsilon.com
Contacts
Delphine StrickerAlessandra GirolamiChi-Chung Lo |
Corporate Communications Investor
Relations Investor Relations |
+ 33 (0)6 38 81 40 00+ 33 (0)1 44 43 77 88+ 33 (0)1 44 43 66
69 |
delphine.stricker@publicisgroupe.comalessandra.girolami@publicisgroupe.comchi-chung.lo@publicisgroupe.com |
1 Headline EPS adjusted for Epsilon stand-alone carve-out costs
and the runrate cost reduction being implemented at Epsilon.
2 FCF per share reflecting above adjustements, as well as yearly
tax step up effects.
Publicis Groupe (EU:PUB)
Graphique Historique de l'Action
De Mar 2024 à Avr 2024
Publicis Groupe (EU:PUB)
Graphique Historique de l'Action
De Avr 2023 à Avr 2024