Advertising holding company Publicis Groupe’s planned acquisition of data collaboration firm LiveRamp was overwhelmingly approved by LiveRamp shareholders in a vote Monday (Aug. 17), crossing a key threshold in finalizing the $2.2 billion deal.
The sale was approved with 92% of represented shares voting in favor and less than 1% voting against the deal.
The arrangement will make LiveRamp a wholly owned subsidiary of Publicis once the deal closes—a setup that has raised widespread concerns over LiveRamp’s status as a neutral platform. Publicis rival Omnicom, for example, has already started to transition away from LiveRamp following news of the deal, though Havas has said it will keep the platform accessible to clients.
