Data platform LiveRamp buys marketing startup Habu for $200 million

Liveramp Holdings

17/01/2024 21:05

By Abigail Summerville
       NEW YORK, Jan 17 (Reuters) - LiveRamp Holdings  RAMP.N ,
a software company which helps match up customer datasets for
brands, advertisers and retailers, told Reuters on Wednesday it
has agreed to acquire marketing data startup Habu for $200
million in cash and stock.
    The deal will enable their clients - including notable names
such as Walmart, PepsiCo and DISH Media - to share customer data
more easily with their business partners, including advertisers
and other stores.
    "Habu is well known in the industry for building a really
simple lightweight application layer that makes data even easier
to use. We are going to ingest that and adopt it across our much
larger client base and make things even easier for them to
utilize," LiveRamp CEO Scott Howe said in an interview. 
    Habu specializes in so-called "clean rooms", which help
content platforms keep user data private when interacting with
advertisers.
    "To really scale things, being able to plug (Habu) into a
large company like LiveRamp will provide a lot more value to our
customers,” Matt Kilmartin, CEO of Habu, told Reuters.
    LiveRamp will pay approximately $170 million in cash and $30
million in LiveRamp stock for Habu. The deal is expected to be
completed during the March quarter, LiveRamp said. 
    San Francisco-based LiveRamp expects Habu to deliver
approximately $18 million in revenue in fiscal year 2025. 
    Evercore and Baker McKenzie advised LiveRamp on the
transaction. Goldman Sachs and Gunderson Dettmer advised Habu.

 (Reporting by Abigail Summerville in New York; Editing by
Aurora Ellis)
 ((abigail.summerville@thomsonreuters.com;))