Dentsu Group Inc. (Tokyo: 4324; ISIN: JP3551520004; President
& CEO: Toshihiro Yamamoto; Head Office: Tokyo; Capital:
74,609.81 million yen) announced today that it has entered an
agreement to acquire LiveArea, a global customer experience and
commerce agency, subject to customary closing conditions. LiveArea
is a division of PFSweb Inc (NASDAQ: PFSW). LiveArea will join
Merkle, a leading technology-enabled, data-driven customer
experience management (CXM) company within Dentsu Group’s
international business, Dentsu International.
With this acquisition, LiveArea bolsters Merkle’s global
experience and commerce capabilities and furthers Merkle’s position
as a go to experience partner for businesses around the world. The
acquisition demonstrates the Group’s commitment to enable clients
to deliver best-in-class differentiated and connected commerce
experiences across the entire customer journey.
The acquisition aligns with Dentsu Group’s stated ambition of
reaching 50% of revenue generated* by Customer Transformation &
Technology (CT&T)**, encompassing the fast growth areas of
customer experience and commerce.
LiveArea is headquartered in the United States, with a presence
in EMEA and significant global offshore delivery capabilities in
India and Bulgaria. LiveArea’s expertise lies in connecting brands
and people through creative commerce experiences that transform the
customer journey. The agency’s services, which span commerce,
experience design, technology, and strategy, enable brands to
transform their commerce offerings and relationships with
customers. LiveArea also offers ongoing managed services to its
client base, with over 50% of revenues in 2021 expected to be
recurring. LiveArea‘s impressive roster of long-standing
partnerships across many leading technology platforms include
Salesforce, Adobe, and SAP. The acquisition of LiveArea further
strengthens Dentsu Group’s deep relationships with these
partners.
The commerce market is a high growth service area with rapid
expansion accelerated by the increased speed of digital adoption
due to the global pandemic. The U.S. Retail ecommerce market grew
by over 30% in 2020 and is expected to continue to grow double
digit over the medium term.
“LiveArea represents a unique opportunity for Merkle to
significantly expand our commerce capabilities – broadening our
commerce footprint in the US market while also adding commerce
expertise in EMEA,” said Michael Komasinski, president, Merkle
Americas. “The addition of LiveArea to the Merkle family will
further enhance our ability to competitively deliver CXM services
and integrated solutions, efficiently and at scale.”
“In a post-pandemic world that has seen significant acceleration
in commerce, marketers need guidance through this disruption. The
LiveArea acquisition, a scaled ecommerce business with an
incredible leadership team and vision, plays a critical role as we
further enhance our experience and commerce offering,” said Pete
Stein, global lead for Experience and Commerce at Merkle.
Jim Butler, president of LiveArea, added, “I am grateful for our
team’s hard work and the growing pipeline of bookings and new
service offerings we have built. We believe our integration into
Merkle will provide our team with greater support and accelerated
development opportunities, and we look forward to working with them
to make LiveArea an even stronger company to create agile, business
driving solutions with our clients.”
LiveArea’s 590 employees will all make the transition to Merkle,
along with Jim Butler, President of LiveArea. LiveArea’s leadership
team will report directly to Pete Stein. The business will operate
under the name LiveArea, a Merkle company. LiveArea will transition
into Merkle to develop joint go-to-market plans and accelerate
growth across both businesses.
Looking ahead, the Group remains well positioned to benefit from
the post-pandemic recovery in media & digital solutions and
structural growth in CT&T. At the Q1 FY2021 results announced
in May, the Group reported 29.1% of revenues was generated from
CT&T activities. Client demand for CX transformation services,
commerce, loyalty, and B2B services has never been stronger as
clients adapt to meeting their consumers wherever and however they
choose to engage with brands.
*Less cost of sales
**CT&T (Customer Transformation & Technology): new
business domain including the services related to marketing
technology, customer experience management, commerce, system
integration, and transformation & growth strategy.
About Dentsu Group (dentsu)
Led by Dentsu Group Inc. (Tokyo: 4324; ISIN: JP3551520004), a
pure holding company established on January 1, 2020, the Dentsu
Group encompasses two operational networks: dentsu japan network,
which oversees Dentsu’s agency operations in Japan, and dentsu
international, its international business headquarters in London,
which oversees Dentsu’s agency operations outside of Japan.
With a strong presence in over 145 countries and regions across
five continents and with more than 64,000 dedicated professionals,
the Dentsu Group provides a comprehensive range of client-centric
integrated communications, media and digital services through its
six leadership brands—Carat, dentsu X, iProspect, Isobar,
dentsumcgarrybowen, and Merkle—as well as through Dentsu Japan
Network companies, including Dentsu Inc., the world’s largest
single brand agency with a history of innovation. The Group is also
active in the production and marketing of sports and entertainment
content on a global scale.
Dentsu Group Inc. website: https://www.group.dentsu.com/en/
About Merkle
Merkle is a leading data-driven customer experience management
(CXM) company that specializes in the delivery of unique,
personalized customer experiences across platforms and devices. For
more than 30 years, Fortune 1000 companies and leading nonprofit
organizations have partnered with Merkle to maximize the value of
their customer portfolios. The company’s heritage in data,
technology, and analytics forms the foundation for its unmatched
skills in understanding consumer insights that drive
hyper-personalized marketing strategies. Its combined strengths in
performance media, customer experience, customer relationship
management, loyalty, and enterprise marketing technology drive
improved marketing results and competitive advantage. With 12,000
employees, Merkle is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, with 50+
additional offices throughout the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. Merkle
is a dentsu company. For more information, contact Merkle at
1-877-9-Merkle or visit www.merkleinc.com.
About LiveArea
LiveArea is an award-winning global customer experience and
commerce agency. We bring the full potential of digital business to
life, helping brands create meaningful and lasting customer
connections. Fusing creativity, strategy, and technology, our
services include NXT Intelligence™, product innovation, connected
commerce, service design, performance marketing, and orchestrated
services. We bring together world-class commerce technology,
building and launching innovative products and services powered by
data-driven insights to elevate customer relationships – online and
in-store. We deliver B2B, B2C, and D2C solutions in health and
beauty, fashion and apparel, luxury, consumer packaged goods,
retail stores, healthcare, and automotive. For more information,
visit www.LiveAreaCX.com
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210706005242/en/
MEDIA Shusaku Kannan (TOKYO) +81 3 6217 6602
s.kannan@dentsu.co.jp Erin Hutchinson +412 923 5546
ehutchinson@merkleinc.com INVESTORS & ANALYSTS
Yoshihisa Okamoto (TOKYO) +81 3 6217 6613
yoshihisa.okamoto@dentsu.co.jp Kate Stewart +44 7900 191 093
kate.stewart@dentsu.com
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