NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Xaxis, the world’s largest audience buying company, and 24/7 Media, a leader in digital marketing technology, announced a merger today, forming what will be the world’s largest programmatic media and technology platform. The combined company, which will be known as Xaxis, brings together over 800 data and technology experts to help advertisers and publishers engage with audiences across all digital devices and channels. The new Xaxis will use its proprietary audience platform to programmatically manage over $750MM of audience-targeted media for more than 2,700 clients around the globe.

Current Xaxis CEO, Brian Lesser, will continue as CEO of the merged firm. David J. Moore, Chairman and CEO of 24/7 Media, will become Xaxis Chairman, and take on a dual role as President of WPP Digital. The deal will close in the first quarter of 2014.

The combination brings together the assets of two leading WPP companies – the buy-side expertise and audience-targeted media products of Xaxis with 24/7 Media’s advertising technology and publisher focus. The new Xaxis audience platform will include:

• Proprietary data management technology
• Unique and anonymous cross-channel data assets
• A fully-featured audience development and monetization tool for publishers
• Rich proprietary display, video, and mobile advertising formats
• Proven, customer-centric audience planning framework for executing more effective campaigns
• A sophisticated yield management and ad decisioning engine
• Client-customizable analytics and audience measurement tools
• A global search marketing platform
• A premium marketplace of programmatic media spanning display, online video, social, mobile, radio, out-of-home, native and connected TV advertising.

In the US, eMarketer anticipates that programmatic spend in display advertising alone, will exceed USD $3.3 billion this year. In many markets outside of the US, the percentage of programmatically-traded media is even higher. Through the use of proprietary technology, a tightly-integrated stable of the best industry partners, and the largest team of programmatic media specialists in the world, Xaxis will offer advertisers one solution for engaging and measuring audiences, increasing ROI across the range of digital devices, channels and formats.

For publishers, Xaxis will provide technology that enables the creation of audiences and the delivery of engaging user experiences while maximizing performance and yield. Consumers will benefit as Xaxis continues to deliver relevant content and advertising, while leading the industry in respecting privacy and opt-out preferences.

“Much of the success of Xaxis has been a result of our strong technology partnership with 24/7,” noted Lesser. “It’s natural to now combine the skills of 24/7’s engineers and data scientists with the programmatic media specialists at Xaxis. Together, we will create an unrivaled set of products for advertisers and publishers seeking to engage audiences in an increasingly fragmented digital world.”

“By merging with Xaxis, we can now deliver even greater value to both our advertiser and publisher clients,” explains Moore. “Publishers will now have the choice to eliminate value-diminishing middle layers by linking directly with the world’s largest media buyer. Our advertisers will benefit from the most experienced team of data and technology experts.”

Xaxis currently runs over 450 billion impressions a year in 31 offices within 28 markets across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. With over 500 employees, 24/7 Media operates in 18 offices across these same regions. Combined the two companies will manage 2 trillion impressions annually across the world.

“Data investment management and the application of technology continue to revolutionize what we can do for our clients,” said Sir Martin Sorrell, Chief Executive Officer of WPP. “This merger will enhance our ability to innovate by creating deeper data connections and streamlined technology resources. We were the first parent company to make a significant investment in advertising technology, and today’s deal further extends our leadership in the high growth service sector.”

ABOUT XAXIS

Xaxis is a global digital media platform that programmatically connects advertisers and publishers to audiences across all addressable channels. Xaxis combines proprietary technology, unique data assets and exclusive media relationships with the brightest team of audience analysts, data scientists and software engineers. Advertisers working with Xaxis achieve higher ROI from digital marketing campaigns. Publishers deliver relevant content and advertising to new and valuable audiences. Xaxis works with over 2,700 clients across 32 markets in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. For more information, visit www.xaxis.com.