An executive payout deal was rejected by shareholders, but the $2.2bn acquisition deal was overwhelmingly approved.
LiveRamp’s shareholders overwhelmingly approved its acqusition by Publicis Groupe, but rejected the pay package for executives.
The $2.2bn deal was first announced it May and sent shockwaves in adland about what this could mean for the industry.
LiveRamp shareholders approved the acquisition on Monday (17 August) with 92% of represented shares voting to push the deal through, with only 1% voting against.
However, they did not approve the pay package tied to the purchase.
The “golden parachute” setup proposed within the deal would have seen LiveRamp executives paid out a combined $82.6m if they were terminated without cause once the deal closed.
This was rejected by a vote of 44.3 million shares to 7.3 million shares – although the payouts could still be implemented if they are already established in a contract.
Three shareholders were also re-elected to LiveRamp’s board of directors: chief executive Scott Howe, GoFundMe chief executive officer Timothy Cadogan, and former DocuSign executive Vivian Chow.
Affiliate Leaders approached both LiveRamp and Publicis for comment, but they did not respond.
Acquisition approved
Once the deal is closed, LiveRamp will become a subsidiary of Publicis Groupe. The all-cash transaction is based on an acquisition price of $38.50 per share, which is a 30% premium on its closing share price at the end of the week.
This will be Parisian holding company’s largest acquisition since it bought Epsilon for $4.4bn in 2019.
The deal has garnered concern from the industry, as LiveRamp’s neutral platform status has come into question. While Havas has confirmed the platform is still, as it stands, accessible to all clients, rival Omnicom has already started to transition away from LiveRamp.
AI agents have generated particular excitement in the advertising industry – but they require large amounts of clean, actionable data. LiveRamp’s independence is a key facet to its success, and many brands use the platform specifically because of its neutrality.
The deal will still have to go through regulatory approval before its expected close at the end of 2026.
