Publicis Plans to Buy Ad Tech Firm LiveRamp in $2.5 Billion Deal

Publicis Groupe SA agreed to buy online data broker LiveRamp Holdings Inc. for about $2.5 billion in cash, a sign of the French media firm’s continued investment in marketing technology as the advertising industry contracts.

Publicis is buying LiveRamp for $38.50 per share, a 30% premium to the stock’s closing price on May 15, the Paris-based company said in a statement on Sunday.

LiveRamp’s shares jumped more than 25% in premarket trading on Monday. Publicis shares rose 2.1% to €78.68 at 11:54 a.m. in Paris after earlier jumping as much as 5.8%. The company’s shares have fallen around 11% so ...