Another day, another acquisition.
Kantar, WPP’s market research firm, announced over the weekend that it’s selling Kantar Media, its media and advertising measurement division, to HIG Capital for $1 billion. More details on the deal are available in the company’s press release here.
According to that release, the deal “will mark a new chapter for Kantar Media as it embarks on an exciting phase of growth and innovation, with a renewed focus on delivering cutting-edge insights to clients across the content and advertising landscapes.”
The announcement also says that Kantar Media, which operates in over 60 global markets, is well-positioned to become more of a key player in measurement and analytics for media planning and “validation,” with HIG’s support and investment. Still, the sale seems to primarily boost WPP’s balance sheet, as the company recently projected that, by year’s end 2024, they’ll see a 1% decline in revenue and flat growth, overall.
Selling Kantar Media feels similar to WPP’s decision to sell a 60% stake in Kantar to Bain back in 2019, which valued the business at £3.2 billion. That generated £2.5 billion to help WPP reduce debt and fund share buybacks. This weekend’s deal feels like a smaller-scale version of that.
Why This Matters:
This deal benefits both WPP and Kantar financially while giving Kantar Media the opportunity to grow independently, with HIG Capital—an investment firm managing a measly $67 billion in assets—as its backer.
But it raises a question: will this deal position Kantar Media to compete more directly with players like MediaRadar? MediaRadar, another ad sales intelligence company, notably acquired Vivvix—also an ad sales intelligence company—from Kantar Group in late 2023. Did you catch all of that?
Kantar’s decision to sell Vivvix to MediaRadar, followed by the sale of Kantar Media to HIG, seems to be part of a broader restructuring and divestment plan. Selling Vivvix and Kantar Media as separate “parts” likely allowed Kantar to maximize the value of each, benefiting WPP. However, it’s a tough move for Kantar Media, which arguably would have been better off keeping Vivvix around.
Experts React:
You will be shocked to learn that Kantar Media’s CEO, Patrick Béhar, thinks this is a great deal. (We joke, Patrick, congrats!)
“This transaction,” he says in the company’s press release, “would give us the resources and support to further accelerate our growth trajectory and strengthen our position as the global leader in media measurement and analytics. With H.I.G.’s expertise in scaling businesses and driving performance, we are more confident than ever in our ability to deliver innovative, data-driven solutions that meet the evolving needs of our growing client base all over the globe.”
Our Take:
Why doesn’t anyone on adtech X care about this deal? Crickets in each thread.
Anyway, many are saying 2025 is going to be the year of quality and outcomes. If that’s the case, measurement is going to be the hottest sector to be in (you can’t understand quality or outcomes without that piece of it). The opportunity seems ripe for Kantar Media.
