Zeta Global has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Marigold’s B2B enterprise software business, including Marigold Loyalty, Cheetah Digital, Selligent, Sailthru, Liveclicker, and Grow.
Zeta will purchase Marigold’s enterprise software business for total consideration of up to $325 million. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2025 and is subject to customary closing conditions.
Marigold’s SMB businesses, Campaign Monitor, Emma, and Vuture, are not included in the transaction. Following transaction close, Zeta will partner closely with the Marigold enterprise team to provide complete continuity for Marigold customers.
Zeta Acquisition
According to David A. Steinberg, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Zeta Global, the acquisition fits squarely within criteria to pursue accretive, strategically beneficial M&A and creates a combined business that is far greater than the sum of its parts.
“By combining Marigold’s enterprise marketing strengths in loyalty, omni-channel engagement, and personalization with Zeta’s AI-powered platform and global data assets, we expect to strengthen our combined offerings, deepen customer relationships, and deliver more value to enterprises seeking to capitalize on AI and first-party data,” said Steinberg in a statement. “We’re excited about partnering with the strong team at Marigold to deliver even greater measurable business outcomes for the world’s leading brands.”
Fit With Zeta
Zeta Global is the AI Marketing Cloud that leverages advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and trillions of consumer signals to make it easier for marketers to acquire, grow, and retain customers more efficiently.This acquisition advances three key levers of Zeta’s strategy, including:
- Expanding scale of Zeta’s enterprise customer base: Marigold’s enterprise software business serves more than 100 global enterprise brands, including 20 of the top 100 advertisers and more than 40 Fortune 500 companies.
- Accelerating One Zeta model by creating cross-sell and up-sell opportunities: Zeta will be able to apply its established playbook, as Marigold’s enterprise customer base predominantly leverages Retain use cases, and should benefit from Zeta’s Acquire and Grow use cases. In addition, Zeta will be able to offer a new product in Marigold’s loyalty offering to Zeta’s 567 scaled customers.
- Extending Zeta’s global reach: The acquisition expands Zeta’s EMEA footprint and creates an entry point into APAC.
Why Marigold Made the Deal
For Michael Gordon, CEO of Marigold, Zeta is a company with significant resources that shares their commitment to innovation and measurable results an ideal home for our products, strategy, and team.
“Marigold’s world-class team has built technologies with a reputation for helping leading brands create meaningful, data-driven customer experiences,” said Gordon. “I look forward to continuing to lead Marigold’s SMB businesses while I root for the continued growth and success of our enterprise software business as part of Zeta.”
Following transaction close, Zeta will partner closely with the Marigold enterprise team to provide complete continuity for Marigold customers.
“We’re excited about partnering with the strong team at Marigold to deliver even greater measurable business outcomes for the world’s leading brands,” said Steinberg.
