Ascential PLC (LON:ASCL) has agreed to acquire a pair of businesses in China and Brazil to expand its digital commerce capabilities.
In China, the FTSE 250-listed events and information services group has snapped up Hangzhou Duozhun Data Technology Co, better known as X Target, a specialist in helping brands improve online retail sales execution across eCommerce platforms including Alibaba and JD.
On top of an initial cash consideration of £11.9mln for X Target, earn-out payments over three years are estimated to lift the total consideration to £29-35mln, with the maximum capped at £55mln.
The plan is to combine X Target with the group’s existing Yimian business to “provide a full set of measurement and trading execution capabilities in the world's fastest-growing digital commerce marketplace”.
Ascential said X Target, which generated underlying earnings (EBITDA) of £0.9mln on revenue of £4.6mln in 2019, provides similar capabilities in China as its Flywheel agency does for Western eCommerce platforms.
At the same time, the acquisition has been agreed for Brazil’s Intellibrand, which provides eCommerce analytics services for brands across Latin America.
This deal will enable Ascential's Digital Commerce business to enter the fast-growing food aggregation delivery measurement market globally, the company said, with customers including takeaway food platforms Just Eat and Uber Eats.
There was no consideration mentioned for São Paulo-based Intellibrand, which employs approximately 40 staff.
Both acquisitions are expected to complete before the end of next March.