Dentsu Aegis Network has acquired New York-based independent media agency Media Storm for an undisclosed sum. The 19-year-old agency also has offices in Los Angeles and Norwalk, CT. 

The agency, founded by Craig Woerz and Tim Williams, will be aligned with Merkle and provide it with expanded capabilities across key verticals such as media and entertainment, a category in which Media Storm is considered a specialist. It also services clients in the retail, luxury and hospitality categories, as well CPG brands. 

All of Media Storm’s 167 employees will make the transition to Merkle and Woerz will remain Media Storm’s Managing Partner, reporting to Patrick Hounsell, EVP Media Services at Merkle. 

TZP Group, an investor in Media Storm cashed out its stake as part of the transaction. 

In addition to traditional media agency services, Media Storm has developed a well-regarded data and analytics practice and programmatic platform. 

Merkle said that Media Storm’s unique approach to using audience decision science to drive planning and optimization is a “strong complement” to its own people-based marketing approach. 

Additionally, the combination of Media Storm’s specialized hyper-local, multi-channel retail approach and Merkle’s digital performance media and CRM capabilities align in ways that will benefit clients, per the agency. 

“The acquisition of Media Storm supports Merkle’s long-term strategic plan to use first-party data to inform and drive marketing across all media channels,” stated Craig Dempster, president, Merkle Americas. “With their audience-first approach, Media Storm helps to extend our existing capabilities to multi-channel performance media and enables us to connect to a broader execution of Media programs.” 

The transaction is the third Merkle-related deal DAN has made this year and follows the late January acquisition of 4Cite Marketing.