Remember the T-Mobile and Vistar Media deal? That feels like it happened a year ago. 👴
Rokt, a company you probably haven’t heard enough about, is merging with mParticle, a company you might remember hearing more about, in a $300M acquisition, with Rokt buying mParticle.
Rokt is an interesting player in adtech, powering some of the more undervalued ad experiences you encounter daily. Take a look at the images for examples.
Essentially, Rokt is a commerce media company (good timing for the deal). It helps ecommerce businesses drive incremental revenue by enhancing the checkout and post-purchase experience with personalized ads, offers, payment options, and upsells—ultimately increasing customer engagement and average order value. For advertisers, it provides the opportunity to reach engaged customers during their ecommerce journey. Classic commerce media, right?
With mParticle now officially part of Rokt—the two companies already had a successful integration, per the press release—Rokt gets its own CDP (Customer Data Platform). mParticle processes and segments first-party data in real-time, allowing Rokt customers to optimize the ads they serve across ecommerce environments. Here’s another image:
Why This Matters:
The global commerce media market is projected to reach nearly $180 billion this year, growing over 15% year-over-year—outpacing every other channel.
On the ecommerce side, Rokt serves businesses like Cinemark, The Vitamin Shoppe, and Poshmark, helping them monetize transactional moments they facilitate. On the advertising side, clients include Booking.com and Harry’s, who benefit from Rokt’s ability to place ads in relevant, high-intent environments.
Experts React:
Here are some of the best X posts about the deal, starting first with Michael Katz, CEO of mParticle:
Our Take:
M&A is in the air, and so is commerce media, gearing up for a massive 2025. This week alone has seen major moves: T-Mobile acquiring Vistar, The Trade Desk buying Sincera, and now Rokt acquiring mParticle.
Interestingly, the other day we speculated that commerce media would drive a wave of acquisitions, with commerce-focused adtech companies being scooped up. However, the Rokt-mParticle deal suggests that other types of adtech companies, like data-focused ones, may also be targeted to support the growth of commerce media.
By the way, is anyone interested in acquiring us? 🙂 Checkbooks are out, and we’re cheap. 😆
