LiveRamp Stock Rises as FTC Clears Publicis Acquisition

3-line summary

• The US Federal Trade Commission conditionally approved French advertising group Publicis Groupe's roughly $2.2 billion acquisition of data-connectivity provider LiveRamp Holdings (NYSE: RAMP), a deal announced in May at $38.50 per share; Publicis is the largest of the five major US advertising agency holding companies.
• The FTC's consent order requires Publicis to maintain neutral, non-discriminatory access to LiveRamp's products and services, build a firewall preventing Publicis from accessing LiveRamp's customer data, appoint an independent auditor to verify compliance, and guarantee non-discriminatory access to independent products and services for five years; the FTC said it was concerned Publicis could leverage LiveRamp to foreclose rival agencies' clients and pressure customers to switch to Publicis, harming competition in media-agency and audience-data services.
• LiveRamp shares rose about 2% Monday following the approval, which clears a major regulatory hurdle for the deal; the consent order remains open for a 30-day public comment period.

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