Dentsu Group has acquired Salesforce cloud consultancy Pexlify and tucked the company into Merkle, a business unit focused on data-driven customer experience management (CXM). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
This is technology M&A deal 558 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2022.
Salesforce Cloud Consultancy M&A: About Dentsu, Merkle and Pexlify
Dentsu Group is a holding company based in Japan. The business includes:
- Dentsu Japan Network, which oversees Dentsu's agency operations in Japan; and
- Dentsu International of London, which oversees Dentsu's agency operations outside of Japan.
Dentsu Group has more than 1,300 Salesforce trained staff who hold more than 3,000 Salesforce certifications,
Merkle, founded in 1971, is based in Columbia, Maryland. The company has more than 14,000 employees. Areas of expertise include performance media, customer experience, customer relationship management (CRM), loyalty, and enterprise marketing technology to "drive improved marketing results and competitive advantage."
Merkle has M&A experience. The company previously acquired Amicus Digital, an Australia-based Salesforce Marketing Cloud expert.
Pexlify, founded in 2015, is a Salesforce implementation partner with 150 staff across its Dublin, London, Frankfurt, and Poland offices. Key customers include Allianz, Amazon, Bank of Ireland, Hilti, and Zurich. Pexlify's employees hold more than 450 Salesforce certifications, and the company has completed more than 1,000 Salesforce Summit and MuleSoft projects.
Pexlify's employees and the leadership team will transition to Merkle. The acquired business will be known as "Pexlify, a Merkle Company."
Salesforce Cloud Consulting Partner Merger: Executive Perspectives
In a prepared statement about the deal, Margaret Wagner, EMEA president, Merkle, said:
"Pexlify provides a fantastic opportunity for Merkle to significantly extend our Salesforce services – adding scale and capability and supporting our ambitions for growth in these important markets with our key strategic partners."
Added Stephen Lambert, CEO, Pexlify:,
"I am very excited about today's announcement. Our incredible growth and success as a Salesforce partner wouldn't be possible without the hard work of our team. With the similarities in our values, culture, and ambitions, I am delighted to join Merkle to bring the benefits and opportunities it offers to our people, our clients, and our partnership with Salesforce."
Lambert will report directly to the Merkle's UK CEO, Anne Stagg.
