Omnicom is buying Flywheel Digital to boost its fortunes in digital commerce and retail media.
Omnicom purchased Flywheel, the digital commerce business of London-based B2B media company, Ascential, for a net cash purchase price of $835 million.
Flywheel’s services, Omnicom says, enable brands to sell more goods more efficiently across hundreds of digital marketplaces, such as Amazon, Walmart, and Alibaba.
Founded in 2014, Flywheel boasts a workforce of more than 2,000 professionals, providing services in retail commerce operations, media execution, and market intelligence to over 4,500 brands.
Among its offerings is the Flywheel Commerce Cloud, a tech platform that delivers near real-time insights to improve decision-making and boost sales, and which manages tens of billions in product sales and billions of advertising spend annually across digital marketplaces.
“E-commerce sales worldwide are set to increase by 50%, reaching about $7 trillion dollars by 2025,” says John Wren, Chairman and CEO of Omnicom, which in October, posted strong Q3 numbers. “The acquisition of Flywheel significantly broadens our reach and influence in the rapidly expanding digital commerce and retail media sectors, two of the fastest-growing parts of the industry.”
According to Wren, Omnicom (which operates DDB, BBDO and TBWA ad networks) and Flywheel will integrate offerings across retail and brand media, digital and in-store commerce, and CRM.
Flywheel will operate as a “Practice Area” within Omnicom and will be led by Duncan Painter, a former managing director of British broadcaster and telco, Sky, who currently serves as CEO of Ascential.
According to Painter, by connecting its Flywheel Commerce Cloud’s product and transaction data with Omni’s audience and behavioral data, it is aiming to outpace the competition with its end-to-end offerings.
“We aim to empower our clients to automate, optimize, and measure their digital commerce and media spend within an increasingly complex marketplace,” Painter says.
The acquisition is expected to close in Q1 of 2024 and is subject to Ascential shareholder and regulatory approvals, and closing conditions.
