Marketing & Advertising Acquisitions in Canada

Spotlight AR, a Stone-Goff Partners portfolio company, has acquired Captivate Collective, a customer marketing and advocacy consultancy. The add-on expands Spotlight's capabilities to deliver an end-to-end "Influence Orchestration" offering that unites analyst relations, customer advocacy, and AI-driven discovery for B2B customers.

Montreal-based HubSpot agency Parkour3 has acquired ThinkFuel, a remote HubSpot consulting agency, in a deal effective December 1. The combination brings together ThinkFuel's technical CRM architecture expertise and Parkour3's marketing automation capabilities to expand capabilities and better serve B2B clients across Canada and the United States.

Level, a digital marketing agency backed by private equity firm Dubin Clark, has acquired BAM Strategy to form a unified growth platform combining performance marketing, analytics, creative, CRM, and loyalty capabilities. The combined organization creates a roughly 250-person full-service offering to deliver end-to-end marketing solutions across acquisition, retention, and loyalty for clients in CPG, education, financial services and other sectors.

SocialNext, a leading Canadian marketing events and media platform, has acquired Marketing News Canada (MNC), a national media brand known for its podcast, newsletter, and editorial coverage of the Canadian marketing industry. The acquisition brings MNC's editorial and podcast capabilities into SocialNext's event and membership ecosystem to expand storytelling, sponsor visibility, and engagement with marketers across Canada.

Toronto-based GOcxm has acquired MobileXCo, a mobile-first shopper engagement and research specialist, for an undisclosed amount. The deal integrates MobileXCo's loyalty, gamification and consumer-research capabilities into GOcxm's AI-enabled retail execution and consumer engagement platform to strengthen commerce marketing and retail execution offerings for CPG brands.

Capillary Technologies, an AI-powered loyalty management company headquartered in Bengaluru, has acquired Kognitiv, a Toronto-based provider of omnichannel loyalty solutions. The acquisition expands Capillary's enterprise client portfolio and strengthens its presence across North America, ANZ, Southeast Asia and the UAE while enhancing its data-driven personalization and loyalty capabilities.

Meticulosity, a Vancouver-based HubSpot-focused inbound marketing agency, has acquired SummitBound Marketing, a Toronto-based HubSpot Partner and B2B inbound marketing agency. The deal brings SummitBound's team and clients into Meticulosity to expand its HubSpot implementation, website optimization, and inbound marketing capabilities across North America; SummitBound co-owner Julia Hanney will join Meticulosity and remain the primary client contact.

Best Practice Media has acquired We Wild Women, a PR agency, coaching, and training company founded by Renée Warren. The acquisition expands Best Practice Media's service offering to include PR and coaching/training capabilities and strengthens its North American footprint.

O2 Commerce and ZaneRay have merged to combine their e‑commerce, design, and technical capabilities under a single, unified brand (Datmos). The merger brings together O2 Commerce's data-driven commerce platform expertise with ZaneRay's award-winning design and UX capabilities to strengthen their North American market position and expand offerings for B2B and B2C clients.

eHouse, a Charleston-based multi-service commerce agency, has acquired Pointer Creative, a Shopify Plus creative and design agency based in Ottawa, Canada. The acquisition strengthens eHouse's UX/UI, creative design and Shopify capabilities to deliver more unified commerce services to mid-market and enterprise clients.

Hover Group completed the acquisition of Black Rock Marketing Group (now operating as BRMG), bringing the marketing firm into Hover’s portfolio and transitioning it to a brokerage-style platform. Over the past year, BRMG has implemented shared infrastructure, profit-sharing and operating partner collaboration to support independent marketers while maintaining their client ownership.

Dig Insights, a portfolio company of Beringer Capital, has completed the acquisition of Ebco Trends to expand its trends and foresight capabilities. The announcement also highlights Dig's recent integration of Ignite 360, strengthening Dig's qualitative, storytelling, and empathy-driven research capabilities; terms were not disclosed.

Dulcedo Group, a Montreal-based talent management agency, has acquired Node App, an AI-powered influencer marketing platform that serves thousands of brands and creators across North America. The acquisition brings Node access to Dulcedo's network and resources while enabling Dulcedo to bring technology in-house to expand its creator-economy offerings; Karim Leduc will serve as Interim CEO of Node with co-founders moving to COO and CPO roles.

mrge, the Waterland-backed Commerce Advertising platform, has acquired MaxBounty, a performance marketing/CPA network based in Ottawa, Canada. The deal is an add-on to mrge's platform that expands its cost-per-lead/action capabilities and strengthens its presence in North America and key global markets.

Mod Op, a Miami-based full-service digital marketing agency, has acquired Calgary-headquartered Evans Hunt, a Canadian digital and product agency with more than 170 employees. The acquisition strengthens Mod Op's presence and capabilities in Canada—particularly in travel & tourism, energy, and telecom—and expands its creative digital and product offerings.

Avance Investment Management has made a strategic growth investment in Tracxtion Commerce Group Inc., a Toronto-based hybrid agency network that provides omnichannel marketing, experiential events, media planning, and in-store retail execution. The capital will be used to expand Tracxtion's service offerings and accelerate its expansion across the U.S. market while Avance partners with the company's founder-led management team to drive growth.

Stagwell (through its Veritas Communications agency) has acquired Montreal-based Luxine Relations Publiques, a boutique PR and influencer marketing agency. Luxine will join Veritas and operate under the LuxineVeritas banner to bolster Stagwell/Veritas's local Quebec capabilities and serve Quebec-based audiences with made-in-Quebec strategies.

Reverba, a Seattle-based patient engagement company, has acquired Six Degrees Worldwide Inc., a global medical communications firm, with growth partner 424 Capital supporting the transaction. The deal expands Reverba's medical communications and patient-engagement capabilities and is the first of several planned strategic acquisitions supported by 424 Capital.

Verndale, a Boston-based digital experience agency, acquired Montréal-based digital commerce agency Yaksa to strengthen its ecommerce capabilities and expand its market presence in the US and Canada. Yaksa will operate under its brand short-term while integrating into Verndale to deliver expanded end-to-end ecommerce, digital strategy, and implementation services to enterprise and mid-market clients.

Perform[cb], a Beringer Capital–backed outcome-based marketing platform, has acquired AdCommunal, a reward‑focused performance advertising network founded in 2007. The deal adds AdCommunal’s rewarded engagement channels and partner relationships to Perform[cb]’s AI‑powered Outcome Engine, expanding the platform’s capability to drive highly engaged users across mobile app, finance, and e‑commerce verticals.

Perform[cb], a portfolio company of Beringer Capital, has acquired Aanicca Ventures (operator of the AdCommunal CPA platform). The add-on deal, which closed on February 1, 2024, expands Perform[cb]’s outcome-based marketing capabilities by adding Aanicca’s performance-driven affiliate and reward advertising technology and networks.

NP Digital has acquired Canadian creative and branding agency REBL House, integrating the agency as NP Digital's in-house creative division. The acquisition expands NP Digital's creative capabilities — adding brand development, influencer marketing, and full-service production — to complement its performance marketing and data analytics offerings.

Earnscliffe Strategies has agreed to acquire Kaiser & Partners, Inc., a full-service public relations firm, establishing K&P as a wholly-owned subsidiary to broaden Earnscliffe’s public relations capabilities and regional footprint. The agreement was signed January 19 and is expected to close April 1, 2024; financial terms were not disclosed.

FGS Global has acquired Longview Communications and Public Affairs, a leading Canadian corporate communications and public affairs firm, and will operate the business as FGS Longview. The deal expands FGS's footprint in Canada—adding a team of over 30 professionals across multiple Canadian offices—and strengthens its capabilities in corporate & financial communications, public affairs, crisis management and government relations.

SmartBug Media, a digital agency backed by American Discovery Capital, acquired Canadian HubSpot and Shopify partner Globalia, Inc., adding 90 technical HubSpot experts and creating a combined team of more than 300. The deal broadens SmartBug's technical systems-integration and e-commerce capabilities, expands its international and French‑language coverage, and strengthens its position as a top global HubSpot partner.

Billups, a global Out-of-Home (OOH) technology and managed services company, has acquired Canadian independent media agency OOH Labs from Agency X. The deal expands Billups' North American footprint, enhances its programmatic DOOH capabilities, and extends access to its patented measurement and attribution solutions.

Truelink Capital, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, has acquired Flipp Corporation, a Toronto-headquartered marketing technology platform that connects retailers and CPG manufacturers to millions of shoppers. Truelink said it will invest to accelerate product innovation, expand distribution, and pursue organic growth and potential strategic add-ons to scale Flipp's digital merchandising capabilities.

Sampler, a shopper promotions and product-sampling platform, has acquired AI-powered UGC SaaS provider AdMass to integrate user-generated content collection and measurement into its brand platform. The acquisition expands Sampler's product offerings and data/AI capabilities while bringing AdMass' co-founders into Sampler's team.

Colorado-based private equity firm Mountaingate Capital has made a strategic growth investment in Bond Brand Loyalty, a Toronto-headquartered customer experience, loyalty, and marketing services firm. The minority investment will support Bond’s accelerated growth, platform development (Synapze XI), and a buy-and-build strategy to expand capabilities and pursue acquisitions of like-minded businesses.

Half Helix has acquired Able Sense, a Halifax-based e-commerce studio and Shopify Plus partner, to broaden its full-service e-commerce capabilities and better serve emerging and mid-market merchants. Able Sense’s founder Aaron Whitman will remain as Managing Director as the agencies operate as sister companies to deliver expanded Shopify services across a wider set of clients.

DATA Communications Management Corp. (DCM) completed the acquisition of the Canadian operations of R.R. Donnelley & Sons (operating as Moore Canada Corporation) for a cash purchase price of CAD 130.8 million. The deal expands DCM's footprint and capabilities in Canada, creating a pro forma business with estimated 2022 revenues of more than CAD 520 million and an enlarged enterprise customer base.

mrge, the Waterland-backed global commerce advertising platform, has acquired SourceKnowledge, a Montreal-based open-web CPC ad network. The deal expands mrge's presence in North America and adds SourceKnowledge's programmatic technology and advertiser/publisher relationships to mrge's commerce advertising platform.

TAAG Corporation, a multidisciplinary professional services firm based in Ottawa, acquired 35-year-old marketing and design firm gordongroup (Otrex Communications Inc.) on March 14, 2023. The gordongroup team will transition into a new TAAG marketing + design service line, with founder Robert Chitty serving as a Senior Advisor, expanding TAAG's service offering for government, NGO and private-sector clients.

Mod Op, a Miami-based full-service marketing and communications agency, has acquired Context Creative, a full-service creative agency headquartered in Toronto. The deal marks Mod Op's first international acquisition and establishes its Canadian headquarters, expanding the firm's geographic footprint and creative capabilities across energy, government and other sectors.

CORE Foodservice, part of the Acosta group, has acquired Quebec-based TTS Marketing & Sales, Ltd., an eastern Canada foodservice sales agency. The acquisition expands CORE's Canadian footprint and capabilities—creating a leading national foodservice agency to better serve manufacturers, brands, operators and distributors across Canada and North America.

The Vomela Companies of St. Paul, Minnesota acquired Total Graphics Inc. of Burnaby, British Columbia and will combine the business with its affiliate C2 Imaging Canada ULC. The deal strengthens Vomela/C2 Imaging’s retail and custom display graphics capabilities in the Canadian market and expands its North American footprint; Total Graphics’ owner Murray Todd transitions the company after 31 years.

WPP has acquired Diff, a Montreal-based commerce agency of about 115 employees that specializes in Shopify development, front-end design, site optimization and systems integration. Diff will join the Wunderman Thompson global network to strengthen WPP's digital commerce capabilities and expand its partner ecosystem in North America.

Hawke Media has acquired Canadian AI company Morphio and integrated its technology into a new product, hawke.ai, an AI-powered marketing strategy and insights platform. The acquisition lets Hawke centralize marketing data, automate strategy-level insights for brands, and continue support for existing Morphio customers under updated branding.

Virtual, Inc. acquired Ottawa-based digital marketing agency inMotion DVS, Inc. and Massachusetts-based event production firm DMI Consulting to expand its web, video, digital marketing and event production capabilities for associations and enterprise clients. inMotion will remain a Canadian corporation under President Jamie McIntosh while the DMI team will support Virtual's in-person and online client events with strategic planning and on-site management services.

Victoria, British Columbia-based Crowd Content Media has acquired Content Refined and its AI subsidiary Rocket Content AI. The deal expands Crowd Content’s product offering into content strategy, SEO services and AI-powered content tools as part of its growth under PE backers Sage Capital and Cetina Capital.

MarTech firm Snappy Kraken has acquired Advisor Websites, an industry website builder and integration partner for financial advisors. The acquisition expands Snappy Kraken's website, branding and creative services capabilities and is supported by existing investors FinTop Capital, Flyover Capital Partners and Montage Fund Advisors.

Dentsu Canada announced that ANTIBODY Healthcare Communications will merge into dentsu health as part of a global consolidation to officially launch and scale dentsu health in the Canadian market. The move integrates Antibody’s medical and science communications capabilities with dentsu health’s global healthcare offering to strengthen dentsu’s healthcare marketing, digital, social and influencer services.

Zmags has acquired Be A Part Of, a Toronto-based e-commerce digital agency, to expand the Creator platform's service capabilities with world-class design, systems integration, and site performance services. The acquisition brings Be A Part Of's team and reusable e-commerce components (including the MiniBC payment gateway) into Zmags, enabling faster delivery of integrated commerce experiences for B2B, B2C, and DTC brands.

Fullbay, the Phoenix-based shop management software provider for heavy-duty repair shops, has acquired Dieselmatic Digital Inc., a British Columbia–based digital marketing agency focused on diesel repair shops. The acquisition adds demand-generation and digital marketing capabilities to Fullbay's platform to drive more business to shop customers; terms were not disclosed.

impact.com acquired Pressboard, a Vancouver-based analytics and reporting platform for branded content, to expand its partnership management offering and provide publishers with enhanced measurement and monetization tools. Pressboard will join impact.com's publisher suite alongside Trackonomics to create a more comprehensive solution for publishers, brands, and agencies.

Alliance Data Systems completed the previously announced separation of its LoyaltyOne segment into an independent, publicly traded company called Loyalty Ventures (ticker: LYLT). The separation was executed via a pro rata distribution of 81% of Loyalty Ventures shares to Alliance Data shareholders, with Alliance Data retaining 19% to divest later; the move was intended to simplify Alliance Data’s business and allow each company to focus on its core strategy.

McOuat Partnership, a Markham-based full-service real estate marketing agency, has acquired Simcoe County–based The Marketing Company (TMC) and will incorporate TMC's Barrie office as its Northern Division. The deal expands McOuat's in-house capabilities—adding touch technology, hardware and programming—and strengthens its presence in the Simcoe County / homebuilder market.

Wondr Gaming Corp. entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all issued and outstanding common shares of JoyBox Media Inc., a media network and influencer marketing agency, in a transaction comprised of common shares of Wondr and cash payments tied to revenue milestones. The acquisition is intended to add viral content, influencer marketing and campaign capabilities to Wondr’s NFT, loyalty and media offerings and is expected to close around early November 2021 (closing later announced in March 2022).

Paystone, a North American payments and software company, has acquired NiceJob, a Vancouver-based reputation marketing platform for service businesses. NiceJob founder and CEO Lars Kristensen joins Paystone as Chief Product Officer as the deal expands Paystone's marketing and reputation-management capabilities and strengthens its platform for local service SMBs.

MERGE, a Keystone Capital portfolio company, has acquired Perkuto, a Montreal-based marketing operations agency known for Marketo and Workato expertise. The acquisition expands MERGE's marketing technology and operations capabilities, adds more than 55 employees to the business, and keeps Perkuto's leadership in place while integrating services under the MERGE brand. Terms were not disclosed.