Shopper Data Firm Catalina Becomes Part of Infillion

US-based ad platform Infillion, the company that bought MediaMath in 2023, has announced the acquisition of veteran purchase intelligence company Catalina. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Infillion, headquartered in New York City, has integrated technology from Disney's TrueX, Gimbal, Drawbridge and MediaMath, to offer an advanced media buying platform now featuring proprietary AI automation. Catalina, which is headquartered in St. Petersburg, FL, provides shopper intelligence and highly targeted in-store and digital media, personalizing the shopper's journey. The firm was founded in 1983, claims to have 'invented the checkout coupon', and previously partnered with Nielsen in a purchase-based audience targeting JV called Nielsen Catalina Solutions / latterly NCS. This last company was sold to Circana last year.

The buy brings Infillion Catalina's purchase-based data system, which is one of the world's largest, processing 11 billion annual shopping trips by 130 million households, across seventy major retail banners. The database includes more than 400 million shopper IDs, compiled via the loyalty programs of Catalina's retail partners - although Infillion says it is 'bringing back' this data to the market, as it has 'not been available... for the past several years.'

Rob Emrich (pictured), Executive Chair of Infillion, says of the buy: 'We're thrilled to welcome the Catalina team to Infillion. The business they've built over four decades, combined with our composable platform makes this more than an acquisition. When you connect purchase truth directly into a composable media platform, brands can finally optimize every dollar against verified sales in real time.' Catalina CEO Kevin Hunter says the acquisition 'accelerates Catalina's vision to modernize our capabilities and deliver on the promise of deterministic, purchase-based marketing at digital speed.'

Infillion says it will move rapidly to integrate Catalina's deterministic data, giving retailers the ability to activate retail media networks and digital commerce solutions with purchase-verified measurement and demand - thereby linking ad exposure directly to verified purchases within a single platform, and measuring incremental impact at the SKU level.

The companies are online at www.infillion.com and www.catalina.com .