US performance marketing agency Merkle enters Europe with acquisition of Periscopix

Craig Dempster, executive vice president and digital agency group leader for Merkle, said of the acquisition: “Periscopix is Merkle’s first in a series of planned international acquisitions designed to better serve the expanding needs of our clients who are becoming increasingly global. Periscopix stood out for us in its similarities to Merkle, as well as its deep knowledge of the nuances of people-based marketing across European markets. We are delighted to welcome the entire Periscopix team into the Merkle fold and look forward to sharing our collective capabilities with clients that cross industrial and national boundaries.”

Marc Warren said: “Following our tenth anniversary last year, Simon and I formulated a plan to deliver long term growth over the next five years and beyond. We became interested in working alongside a larger organisation and Merkle came onto our radar shortly afterwards.

“They had recently completed the purchase of a business that we considered to be the ‘Periscopix of the US’, Rimm-Kaufmann Group (RKG). Merkle’s services, which are based around sophisticated data-driven marketing, are highly complementary to ours and we were delighted to find out that they were looking to move into the UK as a bridgehead for European expansion and, what’s more, that they were looking for a partner just like us. Our interests were so closely aligned that the offer to join Merkle seemed like a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity. We feel honoured that they have chosen us to form a key part of their expansion plans over the coming years.”

Warren and Norris will continue to head up Merkle’s UK service offering and no Periscopix staff will be the leaving the agency as a result of the deal. The UK agency will be co-branded initially, with the Periscopix brand being phased out over time.