Next Fifteen Communications Group acquires market research agency HPI

November 10, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

Next 15, a digital communications group, has acquired an 85% stake in HPI Research Limited, a market research agency based in London, through its data and insights subsidiary, Morar Consulting Limited.

Next Fifteen Communications Group are paying £1,282,000 in cash, comprising £800,000 for the net assets acquired on completion and £482,000 as an up-front payment for the business. The remaining 15% stake in HPI will be acquired by Morar in June 2018, with the consideration based on HPI’s operating profit for the financial year ending 31 January 2018.

For the year ended 30 September 2016, HPI had revenues of £3,405,000, adjusted EBITDA of £230,000 and net current assets of £1,201,000. HPI’s largest clients include Sainsbury’s, Argos and Heineken.

Tim Dyson, CEO of Next 15, commented:

“This acquisition is in line with Next 15’s strategy of growing its data revenue to 20 per cent of Group revenue in the next five years. HPI brings both talent and a history of high quality market research.”

UK, London

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Centaur acquires specialist marketing consultancy Oystercatchers for £3.35M

September 21, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

centaur-logoCentaur Media Plc has acquired Oystercatchers LLP for £3.35 million. Oystercatchers is a consultancy helping brands to accelerate their marketing performance. 

Centaur is paying up to £3.35 million for Oystercatchers, with £2.2 million payable on completion. The deferred consideration is contingent on results, including  EBITDA for the 12 month period ending on 31 March 2017. All consideration is payable 75% in cash, 25% in Centaur shares with a two-year lock-in period on the shares. Completion is targeted for 1 October 2016. 

Oystercatchers’ founders of Suki Thompson and Peter Cowie, and senior management team will remain with the business and Suki Thompson will join the Centaur Executive Committee. 

Oystercatchers’ turnover has grown from £1.1million in the year to 31 March 2012 to £3.4million in the year to 31 March 2016. In the year to 31 March 2016, Oystercatchers made a profit before tax of £0.6m and had gross assets of £1.1m as at that date. 

Andria Vidler, CEO of Centaur Media commented, “This acquisition is a win-win for our businesses. The combination will enable Centaur to become the “go to” provider for brands seeking to drive its marketing performance. This kind of specialist acquisition is a good example of how Centaur will seek to accelerate its presence in its chosen market sectors. ”  

UK, Londo

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Jaywing acquires Bloom Media 

September 1, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

Jaywing.jpgJaywing plc, a UK-based agency specialising in the application of data science, is to acquire Bloom Media (UK) Limited a digital marketing agency based in Leeds. Bloom’s clients include blue-chip companies such as ADT, Anytime Fitness, Arco, Sky, Ebuyer, SIG and Yorkshire Building Society. Bloom was founded in 2006 by Alex Craven who will remain employed in the business.

The initial consideration is £2.41 million and will be financed from funds raised through a placing with new and existing investors and from new bank debt of £1.0 million. Additional earn-out consideration of up to £5.75 million is payable, subject to performance over the two years to March 2018.

For the 12 months ended 29 February 2016, Bloom generated gross profit and profit before tax of £1,943,000 and £279,000 respectively. As at 29 February 2016, Bloom had gross assets of approximately £760,000. Bloom’s financial performance for the 12 months ended 29 February 2016 was impacted by an historic aborted sale process and a subsequent restructuring of the business. During its financial year ended 28 February 2015, Bloom generated gross profit of £2,061,000 and profit before tax of £411,000. Bloom’s performance for the first five months of the current period is tracking ahead of this with gross profit of £1,149,000 and profit before tax of £282,000. 

Alex Craven, CEO at Bloom, added: “Jaywing’s impressive data science credentials and its product strategy are very exciting to me personally.  In addition, the breadth and scale of Jaywing’s client base as well as its recent acquisition in Australia provide an ideal platform for the Bloom Intelligence suite. I look forward to a rewarding future with Jaywing.”

Jawing recently acquired Australian based search marketing agency, Digital Massive Group Pty.

UK, Sheffield and Leeds

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Burson-Marsteller to acquire majority stake in Effect PR in Turkey

April 20, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

effect_agency_logo2xWPP’s wholly-owned global public relations and public affairs firm Burson-Marsteller is to acquire a majority stake in Turkish communications firm Effect PR. the terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Istanbul, Effect PR employs around 80 people and has been Burson-Marsteller’s exclusive affiliate partner in Turkey since 2012. Following the acquisition, it will become a full member of the network and be renamed Effect Burson-Marsteller.

Effect’s clients include Microsoft and General Electric. Unaudited net sales for the year ended 31 December 2015 were approximately $2.5 million, with gross assets at the same date of approximately $3.3 million.

UK, London & Turkey, Istanbul

WPP acquires healthcare media specialist CMI in the US Posted on March 29, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet 

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WPP acquires healthcare media specialist CMI in the US

March 29, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

wppWPP has acquired Communications Media, Inc., one of the largest healthcare media agencies in the US. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

CMI’s unaudited revenues were US$38 million as of December 31, 2015. Its clients include 10 of the top 20 pharmaceutical advertisers in the United States and overall it represents 340 brands among 51 clients. CMI employs more than 210 people and is based in King of Prussia, PA, with offices in New York, Philadelphia, and Pennsauken, NJ. It was founded in 1989.

CMI a provider of media investment management and non-sales force promotional strategy, planning, customer insights and data solutions to the healthcare and life sciences industries. As part of the acquisition, Ogilvy CommonHealth Medical Media, the media practice of WPP’s wholly-owned Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide, will become part of CMI. CMI will become a media investment management hub for GroupH, parent company for WPP’s healthcare specialist companies.

UK, London & USA, King of Prussia, PA

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WPP’s AKQA acquires majority stake in digital agency, Potato, in the UK

March 7, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

PotatoWPP’s wholly-owned operating company, AKQA, a digital services agency, has acquired a majority stake in the holding company of digital agency Potato.  Potato specialises in designing and building complex, secure and scalable web applications. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Clients include Google and Canon. Potato employs around 100 people and is headquartered in London, with an office in Bristol and a presence in San Francisco.

Revenues for the year ended 31 March 2015 were £6.9 million, with gross assets of £4.1 million, as at the same date.

UK, London

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St Ives acquires The App Business

February 8, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

St Ives plcst ives, the marketing services group, has acquired The App Business Limited (TAB), http://www.theappbusiness.com, a mobile-led consultancy specialising in strategy, product development and business transformation.

Established in 2009, the business employs over 100 staff and is headquartered in London. The company has a strong blue chip client base with particular strength in the consumer goods, automotive, travel, retail and publishing sectors.

In the financial year ended 30 April 2014, TAB generated EBITDA of £1.5 million and revenue of £5.1 million, with gross assets of £2.7 million. For the financial year ended 30 April 2015 TAB generated EBITDA of £3.7 million and revenue of £11.3 million (as per unaudited management accounts).

Initially, St Ives acquired 82.16% of the issued share capital of TAB, for an initial consideration of £22.3 million (£16.7 million in cash and approximately 2.6 million St Ives shares). On 8th February the company announced it had acquired the remaining 17.84% for £3.7 million in cash and approximately 0.6 million St Ives shares.

Further deferred consideration of up to £27.8 million may be payable (to be satisfied not less than 75% in cash and up to 25% in shares) dependent on incremental profit performance for the financial years ending 30 April 2016, 2017 and 2018. T

TAB will operate as a subsidiary of St Ives and will continue to be managed from its current location by its existing management team, which includes Daniel Joseph and Rob Evans, the principal vendors.

UK, London

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WPP’s Sudler & Hennessey acquires majority stake in System Analytic in Lon

December 16, 2015 — Fusion DigiNet

WPP’s wholly-owned operating company, Sudler & Hennessey, a global healthcare marketing and communications network, has acquired a majority stake in healthcare key opinion leader engagement company, System Analytic.

System Analytic’s database and online tools enable pharmaceutical companies to identify, map, and engage key opinion leaders across a broad range of medical fields. Clients include Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis and Roche.

Founded in 2007, the company employs around 20 people in London. Unaudited revenues for the year ended 5 April 2015 were £2.1 million, with gross assets at the same date of £1.0 million.

UK, London

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WPP to merge its Australian and New Zealand businesses with STW Communications Group

December 14, 2015 — Fusion DigiNet

STWWPP is to merge its Australian and New Zealand businesses with STW Communications Group in Australia and New Zealand and increase its shareholding to 61.5%

WPP is to merge its Australian and New Zealand businesses with STW Communications Group Limited (STW) and increase its shareholding from 23.6% to 61.5%. STW, a marketing and communications group, is a publicly listed company, whose shares are traded on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: SGN).  

The merged group will have pro-forma LTM revenues of c.A$1billion and EBIT of A$142 million For the 12 months ended 30 September 2015 and will become the primary vehicle for WPP in Australia and New Zealand.  Following the merger, STW will change its name to align it with WPP.

The transaction will be structured through a contribution of WPP’s Australian and New Zealand businesses into STW, for an enterprise value of A$512 million, with consideration consisting of the issue to WPP of new STW shares and a shareholder loan. 

The STW Shares will be issued to WPP at A$0.915 per share, representing a premium of 30% to the 10 day VWAP prior to the date of this announcement. WPP will move from a 23.6% interest in STW to become the majority shareholder with a 61.5% equity interest. WPP will also have the right to appoint a majority of Directors to the STW Board. 

The transaction is conditional on STW shareholder approval and the approval of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Foreign Investment Review Board.

UK, London & Australia, St Leonards, NSW & New Zealand, Auckland

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Axel Springer acquires the remaining 15% in online classified ad company Axel Springer Digital Classifieds

December 9, 2015 — Fusion DigiNet

axel_springer_logoAxel Springer has acquired the 15% it did not own in Axel Springer Digital Classifieds GmbH from PE firm General Atlantic. General Atlantic will receive 8,955,311 new shares in Axel Springer SE. As a result, Axel Springer will own 100% of Axel Springer Digital Classifieds GmbH and General Atlantic will own 8.3% of Axel Springer.

Axel Springer and General Atlantic entered into a strategic partnership in 2012 to create Axel Springer Digital Classifieds. The new joint venture was comprised of the French real estate portal SeLoger, the German real estate portal Immonet, and the European job exchange StepStone.

The goal of the partnership was to create opportunities for rapid growth and further internationalisation through bundling offers in a company with strong capital resources. Axel Springer Digital Classifieds has expanded its job portals (such as Totaljobs, Saongroup, YourCareerGroup, Jobsite and Drushim), real estate portals (such as Immowelt and Immoweb), the regional portal meinestadt.de, the car classifieds portal LaCentrale, and the Israeli classifieds portal Yad2.

Germany, Berlin

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