Merkle, a customer relationship marketing agency, has acquired search marketing firm Impaqt. The acquisition, completed March 25, will allow Merkle to incorporate Impaqt’s search marketing capabilities into its database and digital offerings, said Craig Dempster, EVP and CMO at Merkle.
“As a CRM agency, we have to be able to help customers interact across all mediums and channels,” he said. “Developing search capabilities organically was not the right move. Impaqt is a great fit for us because they are one of the largest search companies around and, like us, they’re incredibly oriented around analytics.”
Dempster said he expects Impaqt to generate about $90 million in gross revenue this year. The company’s 85 employees will all be retained, and Merkle will put into place “aggressive expansion plans for Impaqt,” he added.
Richard Hagerty, CEO of Impaqt, will report directly to Merkle CEO David Williams. Impaqt will retain its brand, said Dempster.
Impaqt works with more than 100 brands, including Mercedes Benz and Barnes & Noble. The Pittsburgh-based company has managed more than 500 campaigns since it launched in 1999.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
