CONWAY, Ark.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Acxiom® (NASDAQ: ACXM), the data foundation for the world’s best marketers, today announced plans to realign its portfolio into two distinct business units: LiveRamp®, the identity cloud for transforming the world’s data into value, and Acxiom Marketing Solutions, the leading provider of data solutions for powering exceptional customer experiences. This realignment will allow Acxiom to best meet client needs in a rapidly evolving marketplace, create a strong foundation for continued growth and enhance value for shareholders. Acxiom expects to report its results under the realigned business units in the first quarter of fiscal 2019.

The structure configures Acxiom’s three divisions into two business units, aligning key Audience Solutions’ assets to each. All identity assets including IdentityLink™, AbiliTec® intellectual property and Acxiom’s TV integrations will be consolidated in LiveRamp, creating the world’s first truly end-to-end identity platform for people-based marketing. The remaining Audience Solutions’ lines of business for data and data services will be combined with Marketing Services to create Acxiom Marketing Solutions, the world’s deepest bench of experts for turning customer insights into engaging experiences that drive tangible business outcomes.

James Arra and Anneka Gupta will continue to serve as co-presidents of LiveRamp, and Rick Erwin and Dennis Self will serve as co-presidents of Acxiom Marketing Solutions. All business unit presidents will continue to report to Scott Howe.

“At Acxiom, our clients are our number one priority,” said Acxiom CEO Scott Howe. “Aligning our structure with the way clients buy our products and services makes it easier to explore a greater range of opportunities for delivering value. In addition, the structure better positions each business to address distinct market trends and execute against its respective opportunity set.”

LiveRamp’s Identity Cloud Transforms Data into Value

LiveRamp IdentityLink is a foundational element of any technology stack – making it easy for companies to connect, move and share data, so they can make smarter decisions and forge stronger customer relationships. Our core suite of capabilities includes:

• Data Unification – connecting data from any source to create a true omnichannel view of the customer.
• Data Augmentation – enabling deeper consumer insights through Data Store, the world’s largest marketplace for buying, selling and sharing consumer data.
• Data Activation – delivering data across more than 550 technology platforms and publishers to support people-based targeting, personalization and measurement for hundreds of billions in offline, digital and TV spend.

“Identity is the catalyst for everything companies want to do with data – determining who to reach and what to say, creating new revenue streams, engaging effectively at scale and measuring outcomes,” said Howe. “We’re going to help anyone and everyone drive better decisions and business results through our neutral, open SaaS platform.”

Acxiom Marketing Solutions Powers Data-Driven Experiences Across the Customer Journey

Acxiom Marketing Solutions offers unique capabilities to help brands, agencies and their technology partners harness data to improve every customer interaction, including:

• Data Management Services – turning the chaos of marketing data and related technologies –databases, data lakes, DMPs and CDPs – into a simple unified data layer with a complete omnichannel view of customers.
• Data Strategy Services – providing clients with a prioritized roadmap for optimizing the use of data and marketing technology.
• Analytics Services – delivering independent services for measuring marketing ROI, attributing impact, deepening consumer insights and predicting consumer behavior.
• Audience Creation Services – creating ideal audiences through look-alike modeling, advanced scoring, custom segment creation and traditional packaged data offerings.

“Everyone realizes that data is valuable, but few are using it effectively,” said Howe. “In a world where everything is becoming data-driven, Acxiom Marketing Solutions offers the deepest set of capabilities for helping companies navigate the complexity of creating exceptional experiences across every consumer touchpoint.”

Acxiom to Explore Options for Marketing Solutions Business

Over the last three quarters, Acxiom has undergone a comprehensive review of its businesses to drive cleaner lines of sight, clearer accountabilities and to maximize its strategic flexibility. Following this review, the Company announced today that it intends to actively explore options to further strengthen Acxiom Marketing Solutions and deliver greater value to its clients. These options may include a strategic partnership, acquisition, tax-free merger, joint venture, tax-free spin-off, sale or other potential strategic combinations.

“Acxiom Marketing Solutions has long-standing relationships with many of the world’s biggest brands and currently serves nearly half of the Fortune 100,” said Howe. “Our associates are deeply committed to the long-term success of our clients, and our goal is to provide them with the ability to deliver even greater value at an accelerated pace.”

Acxiom does not intend to provide further public comments on its strategic review, unless there is a material development.

Conference Call

In a separate release issued today, Acxiom also announced its fiscal third quarter 2018 earnings results. The Company has scheduled a conference call at 4pm CT today to discuss its results for the quarter and the new organizational structure.

About Acxiom

Acxiom provides the data foundation for the world’s best marketers. We enable people-based marketing everywhere through a simple, open approach to connecting systems and data that drives seamless customer experiences and higher ROI. A leader in identity and ethical data use for more than 48 years, Acxiom helps thousands of clients and partners around the globe work together to create a world where all marketing is relevant. Acxiom is a registered trademark of Acxiom Corporation. For more information, visit Acxiom.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements including, without limitation, statements regarding a contemplated corporate reorganization strategy and possible strategic alternatives. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. The following are factors, among others, that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements: the possibility that the integration of or separation of businesses may not be successful as planned; the possibility that the contemplated reorganization structure will not deliver the expected benefits to our customers or value to our shareholders; and the possibility that other risks and uncertainties may emerge, including those detailed from time to time in our current and periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our current reports on Form 8-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and annual reports on Form 10-K, particularly the discussion under the caption “Item 1A. RISK FACTORS” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2017, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 26, 2017.

We undertake no obligation to update the information contained in this press release or any other forward-looking statement.

To automatically receive Acxiom Corporation financial news by email, please visit www.acxiom.com and subscribe to email alerts.

Acxiom, LiveRamp, IdentityLink, InfoBase and all other Acxiom marks contained herein are trademarks or service marks of Acxiom Corporation. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180206006249/en/