TTD - Quick Take - What Does Publicis’ Acquisition of LiveRamp Mean for The Trade Desk

Research evidence excerpt

TTD - Quick Take - What Does Publicis’ Acquisition of LiveRamp Mean for The Trade Desk

Truist Securities

Equity Research Report May 18, 2026

TMT: Internet The Trade Desk, Inc. (TTD)

TTD - Quick Take - What Does Publicis’ Acquisition of LiveRamp Youssef Squali

212-303-4180 Mean for The Trade Desk

Youssef.Squali@truist.com

Robert Zeller We See positives and negatives for The Trade Desk (TTD, Buy) from Publicis’

212-319-3917 Acquisition of LiveRamp, announced this week-end. This is a major development in the

Robert.Zeller@truist.com ad agency/AdTech space given its size but also the idea behind it - vertically integrating the

leading 3P data layer into one of the largest ad agencies, Publicis. We view this transaction

Nicholas Cronin as potentially beneficial for TTD given that LiveRamp’s value as a neutral player may be

212-326-6149 compromised, pushing the eco-system more towards TTD's UID-2, which remains neutral

Nicholas.Cronin@truist.com and independent. That said, we see some negatives from it as well.

• Publicis Groupe (PUBGY, NR) has entered into an agreement to acquire LiveRamp (RAMP,

NR), a global data collaboration platform for a total enterprise value of $2.2 billion or

Current Price (May 15, $21.15 $38.50/share (30% premium to Friday’s close). With LiveRamp, Publicis hopes to become

2026) a leader in “data co-creation”. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2026.

Stock Rating BUY • In simple terms, LiveRamp is a data matchmaking service for the digital advertising world,

Unchanged it is the "Switzerland" of identity. LiveRamps’s entire business model was built on being

trusted by everyone including brands, publishers and agencies as a neutral platform

Price Target $35.00 that helps brands and publishers match their respective customer data and improve