Dentsu’s Merkle Adds Analytics Muscle With Ugam Acquisition

The acquisition is one of the firm’s largest transactions to date, according to the Columbia, Md.-based Merkle.

Ugam, which will now be followed by the moniker “a Merkle Company,” will continue to be led by Sunil Mirani, co-founder and CEO of the firm. He will report to Craig Dempster, president of Merkle Americas.

“We have found the perfect partner in Merkle,” Mirani said in a statement. “We complement each other’s strengths, with Ugam bringing advanced analytics capabilities at scale and Merkle bringing a diverse client base with a largely in-country presence. Most importantly, the cultural fit was evident from day one, and the effects will be immensely positive for all our stakeholders—customers, employees and shareholders.”

Dentsu Aegis Network acquired a majority stake in Merkle in 2016, and since then the latter has grown via a number of acquisitions. In the past year alone, Merkle has acquired digital marketing agency Happy Marketer, experience design firm Filter, full-service digital shop Namics, and Amicus Digital, an Australian company that helps businesses use Salesforce Marketing Cloud.

“Ugam is vital to the execution of Merkle’s multi-year analytics strategy of creating a scaled on- and offshore shared analytics service across Dentsu Aegis Network,” said Dempster in a statement. “Their focus on the U.S. market and Fortune 500 companies will create many synergies and strengthen our existing relationships, opening opportunities for each of our client portfolios.”