Dentsu Inc. agrees to acquire 100% of shares in LeapFrog, a leading U.S. digital performance marketing company.

Dentsu Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Toshihiro Yamamoto; Capital: ¥74,609,810,000) of Dentsu Inc. has reached an agreement with the shareholders of Leapfrog Direct Response LLC (Headquarters: Evanston, Illinois; CEO: David Husain; hereinafter "Leapfrog"), a leading U.S. digital performance marketing company, to acquire 100% of its shares.

Founded in 1995, Leapfrog excels in developing technologies related to customer conversion and customer experience (UX), positioning itself as one of the largest independent performance marketing companies in the U.S.

Its proprietary platform, the LFX Conversion Platform, connects data across multiple channels and various customer touchpoints (such as physical stores, e-commerce sites, and social media) online and offline. This integration aims to optimize conversions, enhance the customer's brand experience, and generate more efficient market intelligence. LeapFrog currently employs 150 people, approximately 60% of whom are specialized staff such as software engineers and data scientists.

Following the share acquisition, we will integrate Leapfrog into the U.S. operations of iProspect, one of our Group's global network ^brands* with strengths in the digital performance domain. This will enable iProspect to enhance its competitiveness and improve customer service, accelerating its growth strategy in the rapidly expanding U.S. digital market.

The impact of this transaction on Dentsu's consolidated results for the fiscal year ending December 2017 will be minimal.

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*Dentsu Inc. Aegis Network (London), which oversees Dentsu Inc. overseas operations, conducts business globally centered around 10 global network brands. These 10 brands are Carat, Dentsu (Dentsu Brand Agencies), Dentsu media, iProspect, Isobar, mcgarrybowen, Merkle, MKTG, Posterscope, and Vizeum.

 

【Leapfrog Direct Response LLC Overview】

Company Name: Leapfrog Direct Response LLC
Headquarters: Evanston, Illinois, USA
Established: April 1995
Shareholder Structure: After acquisition completion, Dentsu Inc. Aegis Network: 100%
Revenue: US$32 million (approx. ¥3.5 billion) (Fiscal Year Ended December 2016)
Representative:
　David Husain (CEO & Co-Founder)
　Scott Epskamp (President & Co-Founder)
　Jason Wadler (Executive Vice President)
Number of Employees: 150
Business Description: Provides digital performance marketing services