(Reuters) – French advertiser Publicis said on Thursday it has reached an agreement to acquire data and ID technology group Lotame, which it plans to wrap into its targeted marketing unit Epsilon, its main business driver.
The group said the acquisition would boost individual consumer profiles to 4 billion from 2.3 billion currently.
The combined capability would allow Publicis to interact with 91% of all adults who use the internet, CEO Arthur Sadoun said in a statement.
In February, Publicis said it would allocate between 800 million and 900 million euros this year for targeted acquisitions in technology and proprietary data.
Publicis did not say how much the acquisition of Lotame, which is expected to close early in the second quarter, would cost it.
(Reporting by Leo Marchandon and Mara Vilcu in Gdansk; Editing by Jan Harvey, Kirsten Donovan)
