Saying the new company serves a list of clients that includes 90% of the world’s automotive and global customer experience sector companies, InMoment and MaritzCX said they have agreed to combine the two companies.

“This industry needs a new and disruptive approach if we truly wish to transform the way businesses look to improve experiences and results,” MaritzCX president and chief executive officer Mike Sinoway said in a news release.

He continued, “The combined company will offer a transformative approach to enhancing the customer experience.”

The transaction is expected to close in early March.

With a global team of 1,500 employees located in 20 offices in North America, Europe and Asia, the new company will immediately support more than 2,000 brands.

Andrew Joiner will serve as chief executive officer of the combined organization. John Lewis will continue to serve as board of directors chair. The combined leadership team includes leadership from both organizations. For an unspecified period, the companies expect MaritzCX to operate as MaritzCX, an InMoment company.

“In this world of rising consumer expectations, it is imperative for businesses to have an experience program that can continuously monitor, understand, analyze and improve the total customer experience with true agility,” said InMoment chief executive officer Andrew Joiner.

Joiner continued, “We are bringing together two world-class companies that will deliver a truly unique value to our clients in their ongoing quest to win over customers. I couldn’t be more excited about our future as we bring together these two amazing companies to redefine ‘what’s possible’ in our industry — meeting clients where they are today and innovating together to create the future.”

Chicago-based equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners is backing the combined company, which in addition to automotive companies serves clients including banks, retailers and hospitality companies.

“Combining the strengths of MaritzCX and InMoment is exciting for our clients, for our employees and for the market,” Sinoway said.

Clients of both companies will have access to technical functionality and will maintain continuity with existing programs. That, according to the companies, will protect and future-proof their investment.

“Winning companies are those with access to the right customer knowledge, at the right time, that drives the right action to fundamentally improve the delivered customer experience,” said John Lewis, executive chairman of InMoment, Madison Dearborn Partners executive partner and former global president of Nielsen.

Lewis continued, “However, that’s all easier said than done. Companies can often underestimate how challenging it is to knit together the systems in a way that creates tangible value to consumers and also deliver economic value to the enterprise. The only way to ‘crack-the-code’ is to marry talented domain experts with leading-edge technology to create tailored systems that can deliver on the bigger vision. You need both sides of the equation — and that is exactly what we are getting by bringing these two companies together.”