Columbia marketing firm Merkle acquires mobile marketers 5th Finger

Merkle Inc. the marketing and direct mail company with headquarters in Columbia, Md., has acquired San Francisco-based 5th Finger, a mobile marketing firm, according to the Baltimore Business Journal.

The deal is the latest in a string of acquisitions for Merkle. In February it bought a New York company called Social Amp that helps retail companies increase their presence on Facebook. [more]

With the acquisition, 5th Finger‘s variety of mobile technologies, among them RedShop, which allows companies to create customized e-commerce apps for mobile phones and tablets, will now be available to Merkle.
“5th Finger’s unique hybrid of being a traditional mobile agency and deep technology platform provider will help expand Merkle’s capabilities to meet the changing landscape of marketing fueled by the evolution of the mobile space,” said David Williams, chairman and CEO of Merkle, in a press release.
In addition to its Columbia headquarters, Merkle has locations in Philadelphia, Seattle, and Shanghai, China, and employs more than 1,600 people worldwide.