WPP (AO) | Hold | Feedback from Frankfurt RS

Research evidence excerpt

WPP (AO) | Hold | Feedback from Frankfurt RS

follows WPP's acquisition of InfoSum last year at a cost 15x lower, though InfoSum’s core markets are the UK, Germany and

Italy, whereas LiveRamp is 95% US, where GDPR restrictions on sharing customer data do not apply. Swiss-based Decentriq is

another alternative that could benefit from its independent status. WPP reminded investors that LiveRamp was spun out of

Acxiom before Interpublic acquired the slower-growing Acxiom Marketing Solutions. The whole of Acxiom had been considered

as a merger candidate with Publicis’ Epsilon prior to that, for USD2.3bn in 2018. The remaining LiveRamp business traded at a

market cap above the old Acxiom despite representing only a fraction of the prior company’s revenue.

WPP agrees, though, that the move could enhance Publicis’ competitive edge in the US market in the short-term, though it

reminds investors that its Media business is twice as large as its nearest competitor in Asia-PAC and it remains #1 in Europe. The

main loss in 2025 (Mars, to Publicis), which is weighing on 2026 organic growth, was mainly a US account (75% of global

marketing spend).

Addressing this lack of proper integration, despite surface rationalisation (25 agency network into six) under the previous regime,

is key to the Elevate28 strategy. From 1 January 2026, 100% of WPP staff are now incentivised either 100% on WPP’s group results

(for HQ staff), 50/50 agency network vs WPP group, or 100% on global clients for those working on global clients. The intention is

to build back up the bonus pool in 2026, having pared it back significantly in 2025 (none of the executive board received a cash

bonus), understandable given targets were missed, but not sustainable given the need to turn around a people-based business. A