Amid a new CEO-hunt, is Criteo up for sale?

By Ronan Shields and Seb Joseph  •  August 30, 2024  •

The rumor that’s essentially caught fireplace? Clarken is stepping aside to obvious the contrivance for a giant, game-changing acquisition — one of many outdated few items on ad tech’s chessboard.

As wild as that would additionally simply sound, it’s no longer completely out of the blue. Criteo has been in talks with ability traders a pair of instances and even put aside itself on the market as only in the near past as final year. Whether or no longer a deal materializes before Clarken’s exit is any person’s bet, but if it does, here are a couple of rumored contenders to own an leer on.

The Trade Desk

The largest honest ad tech vendor isn’t precisely recognized for its browsing sprees — its first and only acquisition dates encourage to 2017, with the acquisition of Adbrain for a undisclosed sum. On the general, it prefers building its hang path to growth in desire to attempting to procure it. Nonetheless, Criteo could additionally simply additionally be a uncommon replacement that would additionally simply shift this stance.

Rob into consideration this: The Trade Desk has been waving the CTV banner as its growth champion. Yet, because the market evolves, that account could additionally lose its luster if CTV hits a escape bump. Enter retail media — a suddenly growing sector with a promising future. Criteo’s solid foothold in retail media could be good the strategic enhance The Trade Desk must pivot and lift this new wave of growth.

Microsoft

Not like The Trade Desk, Microsoft isn’t disturbed about the exercise of its checkbook to deepen its marketing footprint. Correct gape at its fresh historical past: it scooped up ad tech vendor Xandr two years in the past and snapped up PromoteIQ, a retail ad tech firm, encourage in 2019. So, if Criteo grew to develop to be Microsoft’s most up-to-date conquest, no person could be disturbed. Finally, Microsoft has been pretty obvious about looking out out for to develop its adverts alternate past good search — eyeing commerce, streaming, gaming, and B2B adverts as prime targets.

But here’s the twist: Microsoft’s contrivance to acquisitions looks to be changing. Recently, it’s been leaning more in direction of bolstering its hang proprietary tech in desire to snatching up third-celebration ad platforms. The two only in the near past launched a strategic partnership that could peep Criteo develop to be Microsoft’s “preferred on-space media partner,” but writing a compare for the French firm would require billions of bucks to be exchanged.

Walmart

Walmart could additionally simply additionally be a tidy next pass for Criteo. The retail titan has been fiercely pursuing its marketing targets, even going up to now as to create TV producer Vizio earlier this year. So, if Criteo maintain been the following target, it wouldn’t be a shock. With Criteo in the mix, Walmart could create a more constructed-in ecosystem, connecting its e-commerce platform, Vizio’s CTV capabilities, and in-retailer files for more impactful marketing. Plus, Criteo’s solid foothold in markets outside the U.S. could be the main to Walmart scaling its ad alternate globally.

Publicis Groupe

Publicis Groupe could additionally good circle encourage to Criteo. The maintaining community reportedly almost got the alternate a decade in the past. Who’s to impart it won’t lift one other shot now? Positive, Criteo has evolved since 2014, but that could essentially bag it a honest better fit for Publicis. All around the previous couple of years, Publicis has been snapping up commerce and retail media companies esteem CitrusAd and Profitero, and it’s been going all-in on constructing an pause-to-pause retail media providing. With Criteo now a giant participant in the retail media home, Publicis could additionally peep it as a first-rate replacement to lift its revenues on this home — with out the bother of navigating agency budgets that Criteo has been going by.

GroupM

France-based Publicis Groupe is the chief of the pack when it involves the most up-to-date articulate of agency maintaining companies. Even though, the fortunes of its U.K.-headquartered rival WPP is something of a deem image, and here is the thread many armchair analysts are tugging to gasoline their hypothesis that it’ll additionally simply bag a bet of Criteo to revive its fortunes. 

The conception, in-part, rests on the relationships of key executives, and that could attributable to this truth be utilized to 1 easy activity, i.e., WPP, that it must flip round its fortunes; and retail media could indicate a approach of doing so. 

To begin with, let’s gape at the personalities at play. WPP’s GroupM has a brand new chief executive at the helm in the guise of Brian Lesser’s return, and he’s no stranger to writing giant checks when it involves encouraging the transformation of guardian companies. Does any person undergo in mind how AppNexus grew to develop to be Xandr?

Furthermore, given how Criteo’s board is on the hunt for somebody to contain its scorching-seat, they’ll additionally simply pan across the prevailing C-suite, and own in mind their most up-to-date chief income officer Brian Gleason — himself, a former excessive-flying executive for the length of the GroupM fold.   

If this misfortune maintain been to play out, would the 2 former “sons of Xaxis” — more seasoned readers will bag that reference — put aside the ragged band encourage together over again? 

Who is aware of, but we all know that non-public relationships depend for lots, and retail media has figured prominently in WPP’s marcomms — good gape at its fresh partnership with Pacvue. 

And while Criteo would amount to a serious sum — its market capitalization turned into north of $2.5 billion the equivalent week as Clarken equipped her pending exit — its on- and off-space retail media capabilities would signify a gradual commentary of intent.

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