Will Publicis Groupe keep exploring M&A or does it need to focus on what it’s already got?

The French holding company is set to issue its full-year earnings for 2025 on Feb. 3 — its first since the Omnicom/IPG deal received the green light. On the same day, Omnicom will reveal its final 2025 results.

However, exactly which types of ad tech firms Publicis may seek to acquire remains a subject of debate. At least two sources Digiday spoke with insisted that the holdco needs to focus its efforts on integrating its existing acquisitions more closely, rather than on making further purchases. And Publicis has been on quite the acquisition trail for the better part of three years, having purchased Profitero, CitrusAd, Mars United Commerce, Influential, Lotame, Captiv8 and others.

One source with connections into Publicis speculated that the most likely short-term M&A target would be in the sports space, which was a red-hot marketplace last year and is expected to continue to be.

“They’re active — I know they’re bidding in sports. I know they’re still looking at sports in a meaningful way,” said one executive outside of Publicis who has close connections into the holding companies. This executive believes the acquisition would fall into the sports strategy space — a bit different from the holdco’s purchase in 2025 of sports marketing agency Adopt. “Suzy Deering is now running the Publicis sports operation, and they want to give her more girth.”

Separate sources, all of whom asked not to be named to maintain relationships, informed Digiday that the industry has been rife with speculation that it will make a move for LiveRamp, the widely held market leader in data onboarding.

The likelihood of a direct purchase is understood to have lessened in recent weeks. However, if such a deal were to come to pass, it would be significant, not least given the likely price tag, given NYSE-listed LiveRamp’s market cap, which was approximately $1.7 billion as of January 2026. Sources also point to a further twist to the tale, given that LiveRamp was formerly a subsidiary of Acxiom, prior to its $2.3 billion 2018 sale to IPG, with legacy relationships still in place.

Related Insights

The Programmatic Marketer

Amid a dearth of ad tech M&A, LiveRamp fielded inbound inquiries over a potential sale Read More

Three separate sources noted that speculation was rife ahead of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show that the pair were in negotiations — and they ultimately unveiled a data partnership at the conference.

One source cited a conversation with a LiveRamp executive in a leadership role that such personnel “alluded [that] something was happening” between the two companies. “Everyone knew they were talking,” added the source, “I think it was very much in the works, and then [an all-out purchase] fell through.” 

In a Jan. 8 article discussing the partnership between LiveRamp and Publicis, Ad Age noted how holdco “had been exploring acquiring LiveRamp last year,” with sources regarding any such “announcement” as a face-saving measure when earlier hopes of a purchase didn’t materialize. 

Publicis Groupe declined to comment when approached by Digiday, while LiveRamp said its expanded partnership with Publicis is non-exclusive and builds on an existing relationship, though it did not specify which elements of the partnership are new or distinct from prior arrangements.

One corporate development source interpreted Publicis’ establishment of closer ties with LiveRamp as a tacit acknowledgement that its identity solution, Epsilon, the $4.4 billion data solution it purchased in 2019, which many interpreted as a response to IPG’s Acxiom buy, may need shoring up.

“Taking out LiveRamp would be a pretty big market-defining acquisition,” they commented, adding that if such a deal were to take place, it could “add 30-to-40% to LiveRamp’s market capitalization” because “you have to pay a premium on any take-private deal.” 

Meanwhile, a separate source noted that an agency holding company purchasing LiveRamp would represent a defensive move, i.e., by restricting other agencies’ access to its data pipelines, as rivals would struggle to justify working with it.

“They [LiveRamp] have really built themselves into a position that is very central to the ecosystem, and there’s no real scalable alternative in the market,” they added. “It really would be a way for them to pull the rug from under their competitors.”

Some sources approached for this article argued that it’s imperative for Publicis to stay ahead of peers now that Axciom sits within the Omnicom fold, and WPP has made data and identity key to its turnaround strategy.

But others doubted whether Publicis’ apparent zeal to acquire more assets is motivated by a considerably larger Omnicom. They believe that Omnicom’s presence doesn’t enter into the equation for Publicis as it considers its moves.

“They’re paying attention to what they view, not what others are doing,” said the executive who works with all the holding companies. “I mean, you should always be doing that just because it’s good to have a rounded view, but they’re not being pushed by what the other guys are doing. No one else has made the acquisitions they did in tech.”   

When it comes to Epsilon, Publicis “has all they need, and certainly in the U.S. in the identity space — it’s making that work harder across all the assets,” said one former Publicis executive who works in private equity. “So whether there’s audience auditing strategy, whether that’s activation across all these channels and emerging ones like CTV and commerce, etc. … don’t be surprised if they augment some of their capabilities outside the U.S. And if it was in the U.S., my guess it’s going to be in the area of agentic commerce,” added this executive.

Another consultant who’s sat across the table from all the holding companies over the years, said Publicis isn’t looking to acquire but rather is focused inward on making all its acquisitions of the last few years collaborate more effectively. To this consultant’s thinking, Omnicom isn’t any kind of threat. Rather, if Publicis is going to make any other acquisitions, ad tech or otherwise, it’s because the holdco needs something that would complete the circle of offerings.

“I don’t think Publicis are really looking at anyone. I don’t think they’re looking over their shoulder at anyone right now,” said the consultant. “Rather, they’re just thinking, how do they just sell more things to more clients?”