Marketing & Advertising Acquisitions in Utah

Amplēo, a Lehi, Utah-based provider of fractional finance, marketing and HR services backed by private equity, has acquired Avalaunch Media, a Utah-based digital marketing agency known for SEO, paid media, content and fractional CMO services. Avalaunch's leadership will remain in place, with cofounder David Mink serving as president of Amplēo Marketing as the combined business expands Amplēo's embedded marketing capabilities for SMB and scaling clients.

Incubeta, the global marketing agency, has acquired RocketSource, a behavioral-science-led marketing consultancy, to expand its human-centered AI and data-driven marketing capabilities. The acquisition integrates RocketSource's proprietary frameworks, DaaS offerings, and consulting talent into Incubeta to accelerate AI-driven marketing solutions and measurement for enterprise clients.

Cincinnati-based creative strategy and branding agency Hyperquake has acquired Salt Lake City–area digital marketplace engineering firm MarCore Group and merged its team into Hyperquake’s Growth Marketing pillar. MarCore’s founder Ari Monkarsh joins Hyperquake as Executive Director of Growth Marketing as the firms integrate digital engineering, performance marketing and affiliate capabilities to broaden Hyperquake’s service offering.

UpSwell, a Clearview Capital Fund III platform company, has acquired Digital Print Marketing (d.b.a. Dental Marketing). The add-on acquisition, which closed on June 14, 2024, expands UpSwell’s capabilities and footprint in the dental marketing vertical by adding direct-mail expertise and enhanced campaign tracking; Dental Marketing’s president Shawn Rowbotham will remain with the business.

Apollo Interactive has made a majority, controlled investment in Blue Fire Leads to expand into the home services vertical; proceeds for the acquisition came from the Riverside Strategic Capital Fund and financial terms were not disclosed. Blue Fire Leads, founded in 2013, is a lead-generation marketing publisher serving home services contractors and has nearly 50 employees across the United States.

AMBA, an Austin-based affinity marketing and benefits provider, has acquired the assets of Salt Lake City digital marketing agency Oozle Media and its sister company Beauty as a Business. The acquisition expands AMBA's digital marketing capabilities — including paid search, social advertising, SEO, website development and social media curriculum — to better serve its association and affinity-group clients.

Spreetail has acquired Buy Box Experts, an eCommerce performance marketing agency known for Amazon marketplace services and the NEXT technology platform. The acquisition strengthens Spreetail’s eCommerce accelerator capabilities by adding Buy Box Experts’ marketing services, analytics tech, and expertise to Spreetail’s logistics and channel management platform.

Pattern, the ecommerce acceleration leader, has acquired Current, an influencer marketing platform. Current's creator-first technology will be folded into Pattern's ecommerce acceleration platform to help brands scale ambassador programs, drive high-quality traffic, and improve conversion across D2C sites and global marketplaces.

Cohere Capital completed a strategic growth investment in Boostability, partnering with the company’s management and existing investor H.I.G. Growth Partners to accelerate product development and scale the business. Headquartered in Lehi, Utah, Boostability provides SEO-focused digital marketing technology and services to SMBs and will leverage the new partnership to expand its technology platform and customer reach.

Pluribus Technologies Corp. (TSXV: PLRB) has acquired all issued and outstanding shares of Veemo, Inc., the sole member of Social5, a profitable social media marketing technology company serving SMBs. The acquisition is part of Pluribus' roll-up strategy in the eCommerce vertical to expand recurring revenue, leverage proprietary content-distribution technology and create cross-selling opportunities across its portfolio.

Nagarro has entered into a combination with RipeConcepts, a Salt Lake City–based digital creative services firm, to strengthen Nagarro's design and creative capabilities. The deal gives Nagarro access to RipeConcepts' multi-channel creative services and its workforce in the Philippines; RipeConcepts has more than 650 employees.

Utah-based Clarke Capital Partners has bought a significant interest in Clearlink and will assume immediate management of the company, with founder James Clarke returning as CEO and Chairman. The investment is a partnership with Sitel Group, which will continue to support Clearlink as the parties scale the tech-enabled, omnichannel customer acquisition and CX platform.

Kirtland Capital Partners completed a recapitalization of Chamber Media, a Utah-based full-service creative agency specializing in social media video advertising. XLCS Partners advised Chamber Media and the transaction involved a partnership with founders Travis Chambers and Stefan van de Graaff to provide liquidity and support the company's growth.

Buy Box Experts, a Lindon, Utah–based Amazon performance marketing agency, has acquired Egility of Pleasant Grove, Utah to combine capabilities in Amazon advertising, listing optimization and account management. The deal brings advertising expertise and additional account-management resources to the combined business, which will continue to be led by Buy Box Experts CEO Joseph Hansen and headquartered in Lindon, Utah.

Appliqate Inc (OTC: APQT) acquired a minority equity stake in Utah-based NUI Social and purchased NUI's digital wallet assets and associated intellectual property. The deal creates a strategic partnership enabling Appliqate to leverage NUI's large trained sales force to accelerate adoption of Appliqate's blockchain products and token distribution efforts.

Rakuten LinkShare has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire mediaFORGE, a Salt Lake City–based dynamic display advertising and retargeting platform. The acquisition expands Rakuten LinkShare’s marketing services beyond affiliate marketing into display and retargeting capabilities; terms were not disclosed and mediaFORGE’s ~50 employees will remain in Salt Lake City.

Rockbridge Growth Equity, LLC has made a growth equity investment in One on One Marketing, a Salt Lake City–area provider of online lead generation for for‑profit educational institutions. The capital is intended to help scale One on One Marketing's ClassesAndCareers.com platform and expand its online marketing and lead‑generation capabilities with Rockbridge's strategic support.