Kantar’s parent, WPP will own between 15% to 20% total stake in comScore under the terms of the partnership agreement
The shares comScore surged after announcing its strategic partnership with Kantar, a wholly-owned data investment management arm of WPP to boost cross-media audience and campaign measurement outside the United States.
The stock price of comScore climbed more than 25% to $54.17 per share at the time of this writing around 1:29 in the afternoon in New York.
Detail of the partnership agreement
Under the terms of the partnership agreement, WPP will acquire 15.45% stake of comScore through a tender offer with an offering price of $46.13 per share.
comScore will also issue 4.45% of its shares in exchange for certain internet audience measurement assets of Kantar in Europe.
WPP will own between 15% to 20% total stake in comScore after the deal, which is still subject to customary approvals. The companies expect to complete the deal in the second quarter of this year.
comScore expected WPP’s tender offer ( if successful) to be accretive to its non-GAAP earnings per share in 2015.
In a statement, Serge Matta, CEO of comScore said, “This long-term, strategic alliance will simplify the deployment of global measurement capabilities and accelerate the creation of new services for the industry. “
He added that the emerging media environment points to a massive global opportunity waiting to be unlocked by cracking the code on cross-media and campaign measurement.
On the other hand, Kanta CEO Eric Salama believed that the partnership will offer a new standard for their clients in measuring audiences and campaigns across multiple platforms. He said, “This continues our strategy of combining survey, panel and census data and putting digital at the heart of all we do.”
comScore posts strong 4Q results
Separately, comScore reported strong financial results for the fourth quarter. The company said its revenue increased 19% to $89.1 million and adjusted EBITDA rose 16% to 21.1 million. Its adjusted EBITDA margin remained at 24% of revenue
According to Matta, comScore’s string performance continued in 2015 as the company expands its Google partnership by extending the availability vCE in DoubleClick globally. The companies will also bring vCE in DoubleClick to mobile in the United States.
“Our strategic partnerships with Google, Yahoo and Pandora are all live and have already begun to deliver results,” said Matta.
