Marketing & Advertising Acquisitions in 2018

Digital Media Solutions (DMS) has acquired Fosina Marketing Group, a Danbury, Connecticut-based subscription and direct-to-consumer marketing firm. The deal brings Fosina's subscription marketing expertise and team (including founder Jim Fosina) into DMS's digital agency to expand its capabilities serving consumer-facing e-commerce and subscription brands.

Caltius Structured Capital provided subordinated debt, preferred equity and common equity to support a management buyout of Adrenaline, LLC from NewGround International, co-investing alongside Adrenaline’s senior management team. Adrenaline, an Atlanta-based experience-design and brand strategy firm serving banks, credit unions and retail clients, completed the transaction to secure liquidity and support growth and independence.

Salesify, a unit of Ziff Davis, has acquired Pune-based Demand Shore (formerly QED Baton) for an undisclosed amount, combining capabilities to form Ziff Davis Performance Marketing. The deal brings together demand-generation and B2B performance marketing expertise to deliver higher-quality leads for clients; the companies said the combined organization will employ roughly 1,200 people on a combined basis.

RealPage will acquire substantially all of the assets of LeaseLabs for an initial purchase price of approximately $103 million in cash and stock plus an earn‑out of up to $14 million, subject to customary adjustments. The acquisition brings LeaseLabs’ cloud-based digital marketing and lead‑generation capabilities into RealPage’s marketing platform (to be branded the Go Direct Marketing Suite) to expand marketing analytics, content, reputation management and direct lead channels for multifamily operators.

Perficient, a digital transformation consulting firm, acquired Boston-based Stone Temple Consulting, a digital marketing and SEO agency. The deal adds approximately 60 employees, strengthens Perficient’s digital marketing, content and SEO capabilities, increases its presence in the Northeast, and brings Stone Temple founder Eric Enge into a leadership role at Perficient.

Digital marketing agency Elite SEM has acquired Email Aptitude, an independent CRM and email marketing agency with a team of more than 85 specialists. The deal (Elite SEM's second add-on since partnering with Mountaingate Capital in 2017) expands Elite's capabilities to include CRM, email program management and creative services, creating a broader full-service digital offering.

Ansira, a data-driven marketing solutions provider majority owned by Advent International, has acquired Brand Protection Agency (BPA), a Dallas-based SaaS platform for monitoring and managing online reseller channels. BPA will integrate into Ansira's Dallas office while its management team remains in place to support continued growth and product integration.

List Partners (operating as Winmo), a portfolio company of Northlane Capital Partners, acquired two sales-intelligence platforms — Access Confidential and Redbooks — to expand its sales intelligence content and product offering. The add-on acquisitions are intended to increase scale, enrich content and strengthen Winmo’s position in the B2B advertising and media sales-intelligence market.

Fullscreen has acquired Reelio, a data-driven influencer marketing platform, to expand its influencer marketing capabilities and offer clients self-service campaign execution. Reelio’s technology and team will be integrated into Fullscreen to provide automated, scalable influencer campaign management and enhanced data-driven services for brands, agencies, and publishers.

Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) has acquired a majority (57%) stake in Element Solutions, a digital transformation and digital-marketing services firm. The deal adds roughly 75 employees (33 in the U.S., remainder in India) and is intended to expand HGS Interactive’s digital capabilities and onshore presence to deliver end-to-end digital transformation services.

CSG has acquired Business Ink, an Austin-based provider of outsourced, multi-channel customer communications services, expanding CSG's customer communications capabilities and reach into new vertical markets. Business Ink serves more than 500 organizations across healthcare, financial services, professional services and utilities and has operations in Austin, Fort Worth and Charlotte.

Cars.com Inc. agreed to acquire Dealer Inspire and Launch Digital Marketing for $165 million in cash (with up to $40 million of additional contingent consideration) to broaden its dealer-facing digital products and services. The acquisition brings website platforms, digital retailing and AI messaging capabilities to Cars.com's marketplace and is intended to accelerate organic growth and expand capabilities for its dealer customers.

Southfield Capital announced an investment in APC Integrated Services Group, a Chesterfield, Missouri–based pioneer in consumer marketing of vehicle service contracts. APC's senior management will remain in place following the transaction; Colonnade Securities advised APC and East West Bank led the financing. Southfield said it will support APC in expanding its service offering and scaling the business.

MFG Partners LLC has acquired Mail Communications Group, LLC (MCG), a Des Moines-based provider of omnichannel mail, printing, lettershop and digital communications services, from Stone Arch Capital. Tecum Capital Partners and TCF National Bank provided financing for the transaction; Cleary Gull acted as exclusive financial advisor to MCG.

GoDaddy Inc. agreed to acquire Main Street Hub for approximately $125 million in cash plus up to $50 million in potential earnouts. The acquisition adds Main Street Hub's "do-it-for-me" social media and digital marketing services for small businesses to GoDaddy's professional services offering; Main Street Hub's co-CEOs will join GoDaddy and its Austin offices will be retained.

HALO Branded Solutions has acquired fellow Top 40 distributor Caliendo Savio Enterprises (CSE). CSE will continue operating from its New Berlin, Wisconsin offices and will market as "CSE Powered by HALO," with founder Tom Savio remaining involved; financial terms were not disclosed.

HS2 Solutions, a Mountaingate Capital-backed digital transformation agency based in Chicago, has acquired LunaMetrics, a Pittsburgh-based analytics and digital marketing consultancy. The deal expands HS2's analytics and insights capabilities and establishes a stronger physical presence in Pittsburgh while bringing LunaMetrics' clients and analytics expertise into HS2's broader service offering.

Merkle, a Dentsu Aegis Network company, has acquired HelloWorld, a Detroit-based digital marketing and loyalty solutions provider with approximately 370 employees. The acquisition adds HelloWorld's promotional and loyalty technology and services to Merkle's people-based marketing capabilities and will operate as "HelloWorld, a Merkle Company."