DLA Piper advised WPP, one of the world's largest insight, information and consultancy groups and its wholly-owned media research and analytics business Kantar Media on the acquisition of France based Civolution's "NexTracker audience measurement" and "SyncNow second screen audio watermarking" business.

The acquisition builds on Kantar Media’s significant global presence and activities in digital audience measurement across all media in over 60 countries and supports WPP's aims to become the preeminent provider of compelling and inspirational insights for the global business community.

The SyncNow business allows second screen devices, such as tablets and smartphones, to automatically sync to TV content through watermark detection. The NexTracker audio watermarking technology identifies viewing of content across TV, tablet and mobile screens, enriching Kantar Media’s existing techniques to meet the digital measurement needs of advertisers and broadcasters.

Partner Daphne Bens led the cross-border team with assistance from; Pieter Paul Terpstra, Khaled Dadi, Michael Herschdorfer, Matthijs Schonewille, Laura Smit and Fleur van Westerouen van Meeteren in Amsterdam and Patrick Cookson, Bertrand Levy, Camille Pedrini, Carol Umhoefer and Audrey Weil in Paris. The cross-disciplinary team covered Corporate, Intellectual Property & Technology and Employment.

Daphne Bens, partner at DLA Piper stated: "It was a pleasure to advise WPP and Kantar Media on this transaction. The transaction was concluded in a very short time frame due to the competitiveness of the auction. The complexity of the business and the essential protection of the intellectual property rights made this deal challenging, however this transaction demonstrates the firm's ability to cover all the legal aspects of a complex business. The team of DLA Piper was a great contributor in assisting the transaction in a very expeditious and efficient manner."