The Carlyle Group to provide €400m in debt financing for Infront Group

Carlyle

London, UK; Zug, Switzerland – Global investment firm The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) today announced that its Global Credit platform has agreed to provide a debt financing package of €400 million for Infront Group (“Infront”), a leading sports marketing company based in Switzerland.

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Zug, Infront is one of the world’s largest sports marketing companies, offering a broad range of services including Media Rights, Sponsorship Rights, Media Production and Digital Solutions. Infront intends to use the funds to refinance its existing debt and to support its expansion plans.

Soenke Ziebell, Vice President Finance & Chief Financial Officer of Infront, said: “With its industry expertise and global reach, we are confident Carlyle is the right financial and strategic partner to support the continued growth of Infront. Our new capital structure will allow Infront to capitalise on a number of strategic initiatives and consolidate our leadership position in key sports and innovative products.”

Taj Sidhu, Head of Carlyle’s European Credit Opportunities advisory team, said: “Carlyle’s global team and flexible capital were critical to our ability to identify and underwrite the entire financing for Infront, one of the most established and highly-regarded sports marketing companies in the world. This investment is a direct result of Carlyle’s sector expertise and thematic focus on media, entertainment and content.”

Nicola Falcinelli, Managing Director in Carlyle’s Global Credit platform, said: “We are delighted to partner with Infront and provide a flexible credit solution to support their growth ambitions. The global sports market is expected to enjoy strong growth, and Infront is well-positioned to benefit from this given its unique portfolio of premium content rights, long-term partnerships with the world’s largest sports organisations, and a diversified offering and customer base.”

The debt financing package for Infront was led by Carlyle’s Credit Opportunities platform, part of Carlyle’s $59 billion Global Credit segment, which regularly pursues investments in privately negotiated capital solutions primarily for upper middle market borrowers, including both private equity sponsored and family or entrepreneur-owned companies.

ENDS

Media Contacts:

The Carlyle Group
EMEA:  Andrew Kenny / andrew.kenny@carlyle.com / +44 7816 176120
USA: Christa Zipf / christa.zipf@carlyle.com / +1-347-621-8967

Infront
Jörg Polzer / joerg.polzer@infrontsports.com / +41 79 47 50 429

About The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across three business segments: Global Private Equity, Global Credit and Investment Solutions. With $260 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2021, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,800 people in 29 offices across five continents. Further information is available at www.carlyle.com. Follow The Carlyle Group on Twitter @OneCarlyle.

About Infront
Connecting fans and consumers to the greatest sports events, Infront, a Wanda Sports Group company, offers everything an event or commercial partner needs to be successful. With a team of around 1,000 experts working from 44 offices across 17 countries around the world, Infront is equipped to tackle any challenge – be it innovative digital solutions, world-class event operations, international media rights distribution, sponsorship sales and activations or cutting-edge media production. Headquartered in Switzerland, Infront is passionate and #AllAboutSports. @infrontsports www.infront.sport.

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GREAT DEALS e-Commerce juggernaut receives US$30 million investment from Fast Group, CVC Capital, and Navegar

CVC Capital Partners

The Philippines’ #1 e-commerce enabler Great Deals e-commerce Corporation raised US$ 30M (P 1.4B) capital in its Series B funding round.

The said funding round was led by Fast Group, a leading logistics firm in the Philippines with the support from CVC Capital Partners, one of the world’s largest global private equity firm with US$ 118B in assets under management (AUM). Navegar, a private equity firm that infused US$ 12M Series A fund into Great Deals, also contributed to this funding round.  The transaction was advised by Rocket Equities.

Steve Sy, Founder & CEO of Great Deals, William Chiongbian II, Group President and CEO of Fast Group, and Javier Infante, Managing Partner of Navegar, along with their management teams and advisors, participated in the signing of definitive agreements.

“The Fast Group sees a lot of synergies with Great Deals in building capability. We are privileged to contribute to the growth of Philippine e-commerce, as it relies heavily on a strong supply chain backbone,” Chiongbian said.

“We are thrilled to be teaming up with Steve and Great Deals, the country’s largest e-Commerce enabler. We envision strategic collaborations between Great Deal’s high-growth e-Commerce solutions and Fast’s leading position in Philippine logistics. This partnership also marks Fast’s first M&A transaction since CVC’s investment less than 6 months ago” said Brice Cu, Managing Director and Head of the Philippines, for CVC Capital Partners.

Great Deals will deploy this growth capital in tech development and the construction of an automated state-of-the-art fulfillment center — both critical to meet the growing demand in e-commerce and to level-up the game in customer experience.

“We love a good challenge.  We recognize that Philippine logistics is by far the toughest across the ASEAN region and remains to impede our e-Commerce penetration outside GMA.  With this funding and strategic support from our new investors, this opens new opportunities to drive forward Instant Commerce – delivery under one hour, wherever you are. We can reach and serve more Filipinos faster and safer. That is the Next Big Thing that can boost further the digital economy in our country,” Sy said.

Established in 2014, Sy founded Great Deals after spending many years as an entrepreneur in the retail and e-commerce sectors. He identified a stark need to enable entrepreneurs like himself to succeed in this new space.

With Sy’s bootstrapping style, Great Deals grew into a multi billion-peso company, posting four-fold growth in 2020. Its enviable list of global brand partners includes Abbott, L’Oréal, Unilever, Nestle, Samsonite, GSK, Bayer, and Fila, among others.

Great Deals, offers end-to-end business solutions ranging from digital marketing, content creation, storefront management, web design, business analytics and customer service to warehousing and peak-scaling fulfillment.

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Eurazeo to sell 49% of its stake in Trader Interactive based on a $1.625 billion valuation

Eurazeo

Eurazeo is announcing the sale of 49 % of its stake in Trader Interactive, a provider of online advertising & marketing solutions to the powersports, recreational vehicle, commercial truck & equipment industries based in Virginia (USA), to carsales the largest online automotive advertising platform in Australia with a growing presence in Latin America and Asia. Internationally, carsales operates several marketplaces across both the automotive and specialty vehicle segments with leading properties such as demotores.com in Argentina and EnCar in South Korea.

Under this agreement, Trader Interactive is valued at $1.625bn corresponding to 26,5x CY 2020 Adjusted EBITDA. With this operation, Eurazeo and its affiliates show a total valuation on a realized and unrealized basis of 2.8x their original investment.
The sale of the 49% stake represents pre-tax proceeds of ~$280m for Eurazeo and its affiliates, of which $190m for Eurazeo. This represents 1.5x on their total initial investment1. carsales has a call option for the 51% remaining equity stake in Trader Interactive.

Trader Interactive was the first investment made by Eurazeo’s mid-large buyout team in the US in June 2017. Over the last four years, Trader Interactive has significantly reinforced its leading position across each of its verticals with the support of Eurazeo. Through its relentless focus on building a world class technology and data platform along with targeted and strategic M&A, Trader continues to deliver increasing value to its dealers every day.

Marc Frappier, Member of the Executive Board, Managing Partner of mid-large buyout:
« Trader Interactive exemplifies Eurazeo’s strategy to select and support market leaders across attractive industries supported by strong fundamentals and clear growth drivers. We look forward to accompanying Trader in the next stage of its journey. »

Vivianne Akriche, Managing Director, mid-large buyout, added:
« carsales has a strong track record of building valuable international partnerships in vertical marketplaces. We are very excited to partner with carsales for Trader Interactive’s next chapter and are convinced that combining our respective experiences will further accelerate the Company’s transformation and growth. »

ABOUT EURAZEO
Eurazeo is a leading global investment group, with a diversified portfolio of €21.8 billion in assets under management, including €15.0 billion from third parties, invested in 450 companies. With its considerable private equity, private debt, real estate and infrastructure expertise, Eurazeo accompanies companies of all sizes, supporting their development through the commitment of its nearly 300 professionals and by offering deep sector expertise, a gateway to global markets, and a responsible and stable foothold for transformational growth. Its solid institutional and family shareholder base, robust financial structure free of structural debt, and flexible investment horizon enable Eurazeo to support its companies over the long term.
Eurazeo has offices in Paris, New York, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, London, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Berlin and Madrid.
Eurazeo is listed on Euronext Paris.
ISIN: FR0000121121 – Bloomberg: RF FP – Reuters: EURA.PA

EURAZEO CONTACTS
Virginie Christnacht
HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS vchristnacht@eurazeo.com
+33 (0)1 44 15 76 44
Pierre Bernardin
HEAD OF INVESTOR RELATIONS pbernardin@eurazeo.com
+33 (0)1 44 15 16 76
PRESS CONTACT
David Sturken
MAITLAND/AMO dsturken@maitland.co.uk+44 (0) 7990 595 913

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CVC Capital Partners and CDPQ jointly agree the acquisition of a majority stake in BlueFocus International agencies

The deal will provide investment in human, relationship and financial capital to advance the growth strategy of We Are Social, fuseproject and Vision7 International

CVC Capital Partners (“CVC”), a leading global private equity and investment advisory firm, and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (“CDPQ”), a global investment group, have reached an agreement with BlueFocus Intelligent Communication Group for CVC Capital Partners Asia V and CDPQ to acquire a majority stake in its international group of agencies, managed under its subsidiary, BlueFocus International. This comprises its three main agency groups: We Are Social, fuseproject, Vision7 International which includes Cossette, Cossette Media, Eleven and Citizen Relations, among others.

This agreement will create a digital-first, technology-enabled global advertising and marketing services group of companies. This partnership will provide the new group with the capital to invest in its growth strategy, focused on market expansion, building its next generation of tech and data capabilities and expanding its talent base. The new entity has more than 2,500 employees, across 12 countries in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.

CVC’s and CDPQ’s global network and partnerships will provide the group with access to key strategic human and relationship capital, which will be important for its expansion plans.

“Our partnership with CVC and CDPQ, will allow us to advance our expansion and transformation strategy,” said Brett Marchand, Vision7 International’s President and CEO, who will lead the new combined entity as its new CEO. “This investment in geographic and capabilities expansion and next generation technology and data offering will provide leading-edge services for our clients and unparalleled development opportunities to our talented people all around the world.”

CVC is well positioned to support this strategy, given its experience gained through the successful expansion of international business services providers such as Alix Partners, Teneo and TMF Group. “CVC is impressed by the opportunity for accelerated growth,” said Scott Chen, Managing Director at CVC Capital Partners. “We couldn’t pass up the unique opportunity to invest in this group of leading, tech-enabled agencies and we look forward to working with their talented management teams to take each of the businesses to the next level.”

“CDPQ is very proud to take part in this transaction that will enable the creation of a new global communications and marketing group,” said Kim Thomassin, Executive Vice-President and Head of Investments in Québec and Stewardship Investing. “This investment aligns with our goal to support companies in their growth and globalization and will allow the company to carry out its ambitious development plan focusing on expanding in certain international markets.”

The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions, is expected to be finalized in Q3 2021. No further terms are being disclosed. PJT Partners acted as the exclusive financial advisor to BlueFocus Intelligent Communications Group and RBC Capital Markets acted as the financial advisor to BlueFocus International subsidiaries. White & Case and McCarthy Tetrault LLP acted as legal advisors to CVC, Fasken acted as legal advisor for CDPQ and Norton Rose Fulbright acted as legal advisor to BlueFocus International subsidiaries.

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Ardian increases its investment in Jakala by acquiring a 60% stake in the company alongside founder Matteo de Brabant, management, and legacy partners with the objective of becoming one of the world leaders in Martech

Ardian

22 February 2021 Buyout Italy, Milan

Milan, 22 February 2021 – Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, announces the acquisition of a majority stake in Jakala, the first marketing technology, or ‘martech’, group in Italy and one of the top five in Europe.

Jakala operates in a rapidly changing market, assisting its clients, particularly large corporations, to make the best use of technology and data to enhance and develop their business through innovative sales and marketing projects.

Ardian first invested in Jakala in 2018 through the Ardian Growth team led by Laurent Foata with a minority stake acquisition. With this new investment from its buyout fund together with the growth fund, Ardian confirms its confidence in a fast-growing company with an innovative business model.  The Equity Club, promoted by Roberto Ferraresi and Mediobanca, H14 managed by Luigi, Eleonora and Barbara Berlusconi, PFC, holding company of Marzotto’s family (represented by Guglielmo Notarbartolo), and current management of the Group, will reinvest in the company alongside Ardian and Matteo de Brabant (who retains 25% through Jakala Holding).

With Ardian’s support, Jakala will have the financial resources and support necessary to accelerate its growth strategy in Italy and abroad notably through build-ups. In line with its investment philosophy based on the full support of entrepreneurs to support the growth of companies with great potential and create value for all stakeholders, has decided to further support Jakala, a leader in the martech sector which is expanding internationally thanks to the acceleration of the data and digital transformation process.

Jakala Group was founded in 2000 through the vision of Matteo de Brabant, Founder and Chairman. It was the first company in Italy to combine marketing and technology, and it merged on 2014 with Seri System, and one year later Value Lab joined the Group, creating an integrated group in the world of Sales & Marketing services. Following the entry of Ardian and the other shareholders into Jakala’s capital in 2018, the Group accelerated its expansion opening in new markets including USA, UK, Brazil and Poland. During this time the firm conducted crucial acquisitions: Volponi, which enabled Jakala to strengthen its position in the world of engagement, and 77 Agency, one of the largest independent international digital media & performance agencies.

The Group has more than 1,000 employees, 60% of whom are under 35 years old and half of whom are women. It has a turnover of EUR 300 million, 35% of which is generated internationally in the 12 European countries in which it operates. The Group has experienced strong organic growth but has also closed 10 acquisitions, which has allowed the integration of new expertise. Over the last 5 years, EBITDA has grown significantly at an average rate of 25% per year.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Jakala showed great resilience because of its innovative approach, and 200 new hires were made.

The Ardian Buyout team in Italy, with Managing Directors Marco Bellino and Yann Chareton, and Jakala’s top management, led by founder and Chairman Matteo de Brabant and CEO Stefano Pedron, commented: “Jakala’s uniqueness and expertise make it a key player in the digital marketing sector at an international level with huge growth prospects in different geographic areas. The support of an investor such as Ardian, Europe’s leading private equity fund, will be fundamental in facing a new phase of growth. Between Jakala and Ardian there is a full sharing of objectives and values, an important example is the B Corp project.”

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory consents.

 

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$110bn managed or advised in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base.
Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world.
Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 700 employees working from fifteen offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), the Americas (New York, San Francisco and Santiago) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). It manages funds on behalf of more than 1,000 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

  • Jakala:

    • M&A Advisor: Mediobanca
    • Legal Advisor: Gatti Pavesi Bianchi Ludovici and lawyer Giuseppe de Franciscis
    • Financial DD: New Deal Advisor
    • Tax DD: Gatti Pavesi Bianchi Ludovici
  • M&A Advisor: Arma Partners (Lead) and Vitale&Co Legal Advisor: Giovannelli e Associati (Corporate), Gattai, Minoli, Agostinelli, Partners (Financing), Gitti

    • M&A Advisor: Arma Partners (Lead) and Vitale&Co
    • Legal Advisor: Giovannelli e Associati (Corporate), Gattai, Minoli, Agostinelli, Partners (Financing), Gitti and Partners (Structuring)
    • Strategic DD: Roland Berger
    • Legal DD: Giovannelli & Associati
    • Financial DD: KPMG
    • Tax DD: Gitti and Partners

PRESS CONTACTS

ARDIAN – Headland

VIKTOR TSVETANOV

VTsvetanov@headlandconsultancy.co.uk +44 207 3435 7469

 

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Zisson acquires rising marketing tech star Socialboards

Verdane Capital

Zisson today announced the expansion of its customer dialogue offering through its acquisition of Socialboards, one of the fastest-growing marketing technology companies in Norway. Socialboards gathers all customer dialogue in social media, live chat, and emails in one inbox. Together, Zisson and Socialboards will deliver improved customer center solutions to the market.

“We are pleased that Socialboards’ team and technology will be part of Zisson. We have collaborated well for a long time. We have seen how sought after their solutions are, at the same time as our customers have asked for integration with Socialboards’ technology. Together, Zisson and Socialboards cover all customer communication channels. This merger strengthens our in-house competence and will bring even better solutions to both existing and new customers”, says André Jensen, CEO of Zisson AS.

Socialboards is one of the most exciting marketing technology companies on the Norwegian market. The company grew its revenue over 45% in 2020, and has numerous large and well-known companies including DNB, REMA 1000, NorgesGruppen, Sport1, Avinor, VikingLine (SE), PostNord and Berg Hansen as customers.

Anne Kristine R. Grude, CEO of Socialboards, shares her excitement on now being a part of Zisson: “Our technology and Zisson’s solutions create a completely new, common platform for systematisation and analysis of customer inquiries in larger contact centers. Together with Zisson, we look forward to providing even more companies the right tools for good customer dialogues.”

 

The acquisition of Socialboards comes after a very active 2020 for Zisson, which has delivered socially critical solutions during the pandemic to several private companies and public institutions like Helse Nord; pandemic information telephones, and customer centers with switchboard functionality to several public institutions like NTNU, Ålesund Municipality, Oslo Municipality, and more. Zisson has also continued to grow in Sweden, following acquisitions there in 2019.

André Jensen continues: “We experienced a sharp upswing in demand for our contact center solutions in 2020. With Socialboards on the team, we aim to grow through sales to both new and existing customers in Norway, Sweden, and internationally in 2021.”

Zisson’s and Socialboards’ subscription revenues amounted to NOK70 million in 2020. Zisson is supported by Verdane, a specialist growth investor who partners with ambitious Northern European technology-enabled companies to help them grow internationally.

“The underlying digitalisation of customer communication has been further strengthened as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Zisson covers a growing need in the market, and we are delighted with both the company’s development and that Socialboards’ team and technology
will now merge with Zisson’s on its continued growth journey”, says Nils Vold, Partner at Verdane’s Oslo office.

 

About Zisson

Zisson is an innovative IT company with offices in Oslo and Stockholm, which develops and operates contact center and switchboard solutions. Zisson was established in 2007 with the ambition to simplify and improve communication between companies and end customers. Our vision is simple – to be the preferred solution for all businesses with a professional customer journey approach! www.zisson.com

 

About Socialboards

Socialboards AS was established by Anne Kristine R. Grude and Erik Platou Lundquist, who have worked together on customer service solutions since 2007. The idea around the service “Socialboards” was created in the period when the customer dialogue really changed
after the introduction of social media, and Socialboards has since then worked purposefully to build a product that makes customer service a better experience in all channels – both for the consumer, and the customer service heroes who work daily with the customer journey in
companies in and outside Norway’s borders. Current customers include some of Norway’s most celebrated customer service departments, including DNB, REMA1000, NorgesGruppen, Sport1, Avinor, Telia, and many more. www.socialboards.com

Press contact

André Jensen, CEO
Zisson
andre.jensen@zisson.com

 

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Blackstone to Invest in Liftoff to Help Fuel Future Growth

Blackstone

Partnership will further accelerate Liftoff as a leading performance marketing platform

NEW YORK and REDWOOD CITY – December 22, 2020 – Liftoff, a global performance-based mobile app marketing optimization platform, announced today it has reached a definitive agreement for a majority investment from private equity funds managed by Blackstone (NYSE:BX, “Blackstone”). This strategic partnership marks a new phase in Liftoff’s continuing mission to develop industry-leading technology and product solutions that help marketers grow their engaged user bases through initial and ongoing engagement efforts.

Founded in 2012, Liftoff partners with mobile app marketers to grow their platforms globally. Liftoff’s best-in-class technology solutions deliver more than one billion engaging ads each day to high value users in more than 90 countries and across more than 500,000 mobile publishers. As content consumption increasingly shifts to mobile devices, the company is well positioned to serve the high-growth mobile app ecosystem as a leader in programmatic user acquisition and retention. Liftoff has been included on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in the U.S. in each of the last four years. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, Liftoff has additional offices in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Berlin, London, Paris, Singapore, Seoul, and Tokyo.

Blackstone has been an active investor in digital content and advertising technology, including recent investments in Ancestry, Bumble, and Vungle. Liftoff’s partnership with Blackstone reflects a shared belief in the future growth potential of the industry and long-term vision to build on Liftoff’s leadership position. Blackstone’s investment will help enable Liftoff to further accelerate investment priorities, expand its global footprint, and fuel future growth initiatives.

Sachin Bavishi, Managing Director at Blackstone, said: “Liftoff is a market leader and a key growth partner for many of the world’s leading mobile app developers through its extensive global reach and strong programmatic capabilities. This investment reflects our high conviction in both mobile content and mobile advertising, and we believe that Blackstone’s extensive resources and expertise will help enable Liftoff to further capitalize on its strong momentum and significant growth potential. We are very excited to partner with Liftoff’s talented founders to continue to provide best-in-class solutions to the industry.”

Martin Brand, Co-Head of U.S. Acquisitions for Blackstone’s Private Equity Group, said: “Liftoff is an independent leader in the marketplace for mobile ads. Blackstone has significant experience investing in the fast-growing mobile ecosystem, and we are excited to back Mark and his team as they continue the rapid growth of Liftoff.”

“We’re excited to be partnering with Blackstone, one of the premier private equity firms in the world,” said Mark Ellis, CEO and co-founder of Liftoff. “Blackstone’s expertise will be invaluable as we continue to scale our company globally, expand our product offerings and help more mobile marketers build a growing audience of engaged users for their mobile experiences.”

The transaction is expected to close early next year, subject to customary closing conditions. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as financial advisor and Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP served as legal advisor to Liftoff while LUMA Partners LLC served as financial advisor and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal advisor to Blackstone. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Liftoff
Liftoff is a complete mobile app marketing platform that helps companies acquire and retain high quality mobile app users at scale. Liftoff uses prediction intelligence and unbiased ML to find engaged users at scale for mobile app marketers, creative testing to deliver the most engaging ad experience and a unique cost per revenue model to optimize for LTV goals. Liftoff is proud to be a long term partner to leading brand advertisers and app publishers since 2012. Headquartered in Redwood City, Liftoff has a global presence with offices in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Berlin, London, Paris, Singapore, Seoul, and Tokyo.

About Blackstone
Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our $584 billion in assets under management include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.

​​​​​CONTACTS

Blackstone 
Matt Anderson
212-390-2472
matthew.anderson@blackstone.com

Liftoff 
Dennis Mink
415-938-6465
dennis@liftoff.io

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PromoRepublic raises $1.5M to build distributed marketing software and expand services available for franchise and multi-location brands.

Innovestor

Investors in the companies seed round include follow-on investment from Innovestor Ventures, Genesis Investments, several superangels and the Business Finland government fund. It’s not the first time PromoRepublic has attracted funding; overall, the company has raised nearly $5M to date.

”The company’s enterprise product tailored for large franchising businesses is showing strong traction, and economies of scale of the SaaS business model is kicking in” – commented Innovestor’s Wilhelm Lindholm

Since its founding in 2015, PromoRepublic has become one of the top social media marketing SaaS providers with over 20,000 active small business users to date. As some small businesses perform under national franchise brands, PromoRepublic recently launched a special solution for head offices to manage their local presence on digital for thousands of locations.

PromoRepublic’s 5-year history and knowledge of small businesses’ marketing philosophy has shown that partners who leverage vendor content, messaging, branding, and demand generation initiatives in their local markets drive a winning customer experience.

“We believe in business models that value partners in their ecosystem, be it franchisees or direct sales representatives. Not only does this model decrease the risks for entrepreneurs, it also nurtures a very personal approach to local customers, which is often impossible for large enterprise companies. We can now leverage our experience in serving thousands of small businesses for use with marketing teams of national and global brands who want to engage their representatives in marketing initiatives“ — says Max Pecherskyi, CEO & Co-founder of PromoRepublic.

According to Forrester’s latest research, the distributed marketing software market will reach $1.18 billion by 2023. This is due to the fact that 75% of all world trade today is indirect. In other words, selling and marketing to and through independent representatives, field salesforces, agents, and franchisees is the new normal. Nearly 50% of all brands invested in distributed marketing in some capacity, Forrester says. Marketing executives consider this approach the most effective for local customer experiences and the key to influencing new buyers. Lockdown and rapid digitization has motivated head offices to actively use software for consistent branding, while representatives create experiences for local customers online and offline.

 

PromoRepublic in the media: 

Forbes – PromoRepublic Raises $1.5M To Help Corporations Keep Their Sales Messaging Consistent (2.12.20)

 

For additional information:

Jane Andyol

jane.andyol@promorepublic.com

 

Founded in 2015, PromoRepublic is a distributed marketing solution that connects small businesses, agencies, and multi-location brands with local audiences. Their 40+ team is spread worldwide: in Palo Alto, New York, London, Helsinki, and Kyiv. They’ve helped more than 200k businesses in 120 countries create more than 9 million social media posts and counting. For more information, visit promorepublic.com.

Media kit with pictures

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FMG Suite Announces Strategic Acquisition of Twenty Over Ten

Aurora Capital

FMG Suite, a SaaS company specializing in marketing software and services for financial advisors and insurance agents, announced it has completed the acquisition of Twenty Over Ten, a company delivering a SaaS-based digital marketing platform for financial professionals.

“We’re impressed with what Twenty Over Ten has built in a relatively short time and we look forward to integrating our solutions to deliver the products and services we know are most sought after today by financial professionals, RIAs, and independent broker-dealers,” said Scott White, FMG Suite CEO. “This acquisition is a strategic investment in the future of our platform––websites that generate leads, personalized automations, and fully customizable content,” he added.

Marketing Technology News: Seismic Acquires Grapevine6 to Enable Digital Sales Engagement Across Multiple Customer-Facing Social Media and Digital Platforms

Known industry-wide for its innovative marketing strategies and solutions, Twenty Over Ten’s talented team of designers, developers, and marketers will be retained by FMG Suite. Together, the companies will pool their resources to offer financial advisors the most modern lead-generation and marketing solutions with award-winning client service.

“When we launched Twenty Over Ten, we had a simple desire to make beautiful professional websites for an industry that desperately needed it,” said Ryan Russell, Twenty Over Ten Co-Founder. “Four short years later, we have a large and growing community of engaged advisors and we take seriously our responsibility to continue to develop innovative solutions that redefine marketing in our industry. FMG Suite is a great next chapter in our story because the team shares our vision to give financial professionals the very best user experience and marketing tools to grow their businesses,” he added.

Marketing Technology News: AdTonos Launches Yours Truly Technology to Deliver Interactive Radio Ads

Twenty Over Ten will continue to operate its business as usual until plans are announced to integrate the companies’ best-of-breed solutions to better serve the industry. Every effort will be made to minimize business disruptions, and clients of both entities will benefit from combined capabilities, content, and campaigns to improve interactions with their investor clients at every stage.

“At Advisor Group, we pride ourselves on partnering with the best to deliver the highest value services and solutions to our advisors. Today we partner with both FMG Suite and Twenty Over Ten,” said Advisor Group CMO Susan Theder. “We can’t wait to see the level of innovation that will come from this pairing, as they combine their talents to deliver the next generation of advisor marketing solutions.”

With this agreement, FMG Suite will acquire Twenty Over Ten’s customer base, reinforcing its leading market share position. The sixth acquisition in four years, the purchase agreement represents a continuation of FMG Suite’s expansion strategy.

Unlocking the power of data-driven marketing

Gp Bullhound

New York, 15 October 2020

GP Bullhound acted as exclusive financial advisor to digital marketing firm Linkmedia 360 (“Linkmedia”), on its sale to GlynnDevins.

Linkmedia, founded in 2004 and based in the Cleveland, Ohio area, is a data-driven, digital marketing company that leverages data science initiatives in digital channels to ultimately support sales growth with a framework revolving around analytics, insights and action.

The acquisition strengthens GlynnDevins’ digital offering and improves its portfolio of products and services that effectively support sales and lead generation for its clients. Linkmedia Managing Partners David Wolf and Chad Luckie will serve roles on GlynnDevins leadership team. Linkmedia will maintain its office location in Independence, OH and will now be branded as Linkmedia 360 – a GlynnDevins company.

“We have long-admired GlynnDevins’ success,” said Wolf. “Combining our strengths ensures our current and future clients will continue to receive top of line marketing execution and the best value and ROI around their marketing spend.”

“We have built a reputation based on data science and marketing experience that has proven to be successful in advancing our clients’ sales and business goals. Joining GlynnDevins is a tremendous opportunity to continue to accelerate our clients’ successes with data-driven marketing solutions.” said Luckie.

Wolf went on to say, “With their extensive expertise and network in the sector, GP Bullhound has been a great advisory partner for us. They lock-stepped with us through the entire process and their team went above and beyond throughout the engagement.”

Adam Birnbaum, Director at GP Bullhound, stated: “We are delighted to have helped Linkmedia find its ideal strategic partner in GlynnDevins. The combination creates a leader in digital marketing, and we look forward to observing their continued growth and success.”

This transaction is further testament to GP Bullhound’s expertise in the digital services sector, with 20 deals completed in the last 24 months in the sector alone, having previously advised on the merger of Orca Pacific with MightyHive, the acquisition of Jellyfish by Fimalac, the acquisition of Dudnyk by Fishawack and the acquisition of Eruptr by HIG, among many others.

Enquiries

For enquiries, please contact:

Adam Birnbaum, Director

adam.birnbaum@gpbullhound.com

About GP Bullhound

GP Bullhound is a leading technology advisory and investment firm, providing transaction advice and capital to the world’s best entrepreneurs and founders. Founded in 1999, the firm today has offices in London, San Francisco, Stockholm, Berlin, Manchester, Paris, Hong Kong, Madrid and New York. For more information, please visit www.gpbullhound.com.

 

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