Global marketing intelligence firm WARC is set to be acquired by London Stock Exchange-listed Ascential in a deal worth up to £24 million.
WARC is a global digital subscription business that helps brands, agencies and media platforms assess marketing effectiveness across all channels.
Founded in 1985, the company employs approximately 90 people with offices in London, Washington DC and Singapore and serves approximately 1,200 customers globally.
“WARC is an important step forward as we continue to grow our digital offering, adding breadth and depth to our marketing proposition,” said Ascential’s chief executive Duncan Painter.
Ascential, a global specialist information company, will pay an initial cash sum of £19.5 million to buy WARC, followed by a deferred consideration of £4.5 million in 2019.
The business strengthens Ascential’s digital product offering in the marketing discipline to span both creative excellence and marketing effectiveness and the intention is to combine WARC with Cannes Lions’ The Work, to form a digital subscription product of scale.
The deal is expected to complete on 2 July 2018.
“Alongside Cannes Lions’ The Work, our recent digital product launch, we will now have a digital subscription product of scale encompassing both creative excellence and marketing effectiveness,” Painter added.
WARC generated revenues of £10.8 million in the year to 31 March 2018.