Taylor Wessing has advised The Exchange Lab, a programmatic marketing solutions company, on its sale to WPP’s GroupM, the world’s leading global media investment group.

The Exchange Lab has developed unique technology that enables a complete view of all programmatic channels and partners via Proteus. The integration of Proteus by GroupM will expand the efficient and objective measurement and allocation of marketing budgets across any and all programmatic partners, including GroupM’s own proprietary media properties.

Co-founded in 2007 by James Aitken and Tim Webster, The Exchange Lab has approximately 130 employees working in offices in London, New York, Chicago, Singapore, and Toronto, serving 700 clients this year, including Virgin Holidays, Volkswagen, A&W, Glasses Direct and Vue Entertainment.

In concert with the acquisition, Aitken will be stepping down from his role as CEO to pursue outside investment interests. Moving forward, Executive Chairman, Chris Dobson, will take the role of CEO, working closely with Tim Webster who continues as Chief Strategy Officer. Dobson will report directly to Rudiger Wanck, Global CEO of Connect, GroupM Global.

Chris Dobson, CEO at The Exchange Lab said: “We chose GroupM for the opportunity to join the world’s leading media investment group who is also the industry’s thought leader on digital advertising and the digitisation of traditional media. This will propel The Exchange Lab to new heights.”

Dobson continued: “The Taylor Wessing team was instrumental in making the sale a success and their corporate experience and media sector insight was invaluable on this deal, which marks an exciting opportunity for The Exchange Lab team.”

Mike Turner, Partner at Taylor Wessing said: “The Exchange Lab’s unique offering will be an excellent addition to GroupM’s world-renowned media investment group. This is a prime example of a company with innovation and entrepreneurialism at its heart and we look forward to seeing how the platform grows within GroupM.”

Taylor Wessing Partner and Head of Technology, Media and Communications within the corporate technology practice group Mike Turner led the deal, along with David Bates and Jemilla Olufeko. Tax partner Robert Young and Incentives partner Ann Casey led on the tax and incentives side along with Anna Humphrey and Sian Skelton led on the commercial and IP side with support from John Finlay.