Infillion acquires Catalina, bringing retail purchase data in-house

Infillion has acquired Catalina, adding one of the industry’s largest deterministic retail purchase data sets to its advertising platform. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Catalina, founded in 1983, built its business on checkout coupon technology and in-store purchase intelligence. The company aggregates transaction data from cash registers, loyalty programs and digital sales integrations across approximately 70 retail banners, covering roughly 130 million households and an estimated $600 billion in annual consumer spending, according to the companies.

Under the deal, Catalina’s U.S. purchase data will become exclusive to Infillion’s platform over time. Catalina has historically supplied CPG brands and retailers with purchase-based analytics and attribution while operating independently from media buying platforms. Infillion executives said there will be a transition period for clients that currently access Catalina data through other demand-side platforms, but the long-term plan is to consolidate activation within Infillion’s system.

The acquisition expands Infillion’s strategy of assembling ad tech assets through mergers and acquisitions. The company has previously integrated technologies including MediaMath, TrueX, Gimbal and Drawbridge into a single operating framework. Catalina’s data infrastructure will now be connected to those components for campaign planning, targeting and attribution.

Executives framed the move as a way to connect verified purchase outcomes directly to media execution. By linking exposure data with transaction records inside one platform, advertisers can optimize campaigns against observed sales rather than modeled performance indicators. The integration is also positioned to support retailers building or scaling retail media networks, an area that has grown as merchants seek to monetize first-party commerce data.

The transaction reflects a broader structural shift in the shopper marketing ecosystem. Historically, deterministic in-store purchase data was separated from ad buying tools to maintain neutrality in measurement and attribution. That distinction has eroded as retailers and platforms increasingly combine media activation and performance reporting within unified environments. The consolidation mirrors trends seen among large digital platforms that operate closed-loop advertising systems using proprietary data.

Catalina’s executive leadership team is expected to join Infillion as part of the integration process. The combined company will operate from Infillion’s headquarters in New York and Catalina’s base in St. Petersburg, Florida.