marketing services

CI Capital Adds On to Impact Group

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Impact Group, a sales and marketing agency for companies in the consumer packaged goods industry and a portfolio company of CI Capital Partners, has acquired Signature Specialty Sales & Marketing, a sales and marketing agency.

Signature works with consumer packaged goods manufacturers to provide access to specialty and natural foods retailers headquartered in the Midwest. Signature was founded in 1950 and is led by President Andy Paul. The company has employees based in eight Midwestern states and is headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Westmont, IL (www.signaturessm.com).

Impact Group is a sales and marketing agency, providing sales, merchandising and category analytical support to companies in the consumer packaged goods industry. The company represents over 14,000 products. Impact Group has nineteen regional offices throughout the Western US and in Cincinnati and has alliances with independent sales and marketing agencies in the Midwestern and Northeastern US. The company, led by CEO Carl Pennington, was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Boise (www.impactgrp.com).

“We are very pleased with Impact Group’s acquisition of Signature and look forward to continuing to support the Impact Group management team as it executes its acquisition strategy and expands its business and services,” said Tim Hall, Managing Director at CI Capital.

CI Capital Partners acquired Impact Sales in May 2016. Simultaneous with the acquisition, Impact acquired New Connections Marketing Group, a Burbank, CA-based sales and marketing agency focused on the natural and specialty channel.

CI Capital Partners invests from $25 million to $100 million in middle market companies in the following sectors: business services, consumer services, distribution, government services and defense, and light manufacturing. Since its founding in 1993, CI Capital and its portfolio companies have made more than 220 acquisitions representing over $8 billion in enterprise value. The firm is based in New York (www.cicapllc.com).

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | April 7, 2017

Clarion Buys Madison Logic, Monroe Provides Financing

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Clarion Capital Partners has acquired Madison Logic, a provider of account based marketing services. The existing shareholders of Madison Logic, including CEO Tom O’Regan and Co-Founders Vin Turk and Chairman Erik Matlick, will maintain an ownership stake in the company.

Account based marketing (ABM) is the process of (1) identifying companies that are actively seeking to purchase products or services (it is estimated that a prospective customer is already 70% through the decision-making process before they even reach out to a salesperson); (2) develop marketing content to drive engagement of these companies; (3) generate sales leads and display advertising programs; and (4) create real-time analytics and data to measure results. Madison Logic’s business-to-business ABM platform is branded as Activate ABM. The company is headquartered in New York with an additional office in London (www.madisonlogic.com).

Madison Logic is considered by Clarion to be amongst the leaders in providing ABM services. “Madison Logic has an exceptional management team and is
highly respected within the media industry,” said David Ragins, Managing Director with Clarion Capital Partners. “We are in a media landscape where business-to-business marketers require clear ROI from their marketing solutions. Madison Logic is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this transformation thanks to its exceptional data-driven account based marketing products and industry leadership position.” Clarion intends to invest in the Activate ABM platform and market its services in new market verticals, invest in new geographic regions, expand its personnel base, and make add-on acquisitions.

“Madison Logic has the potential for tremendous organic growth and is a solid platform on which to build through strategic acquisitions,” added Mr. Ragins. “Clarion is excited to participate in this growth, fueling an already growing company with the resources and experience that will help it evaluate potential partnerships and acquisitions that offer value to Madison Logic’s customers.”

Clarion Capital Partners is a middle market private equity firm that invests from $15 million to $50 million in companies that have EBITDAs greater than $10 million. Sectors of interest include: business services; healthcare services; specialty financial services; consumer products; specialty retail; and media & entertainment. Clarion is based in New York (www.clarion-capital.com).

Monroe Capital was the sole lead arranger and administrative agent on the funding of a senior credit facility to back Clarion’s buy of Madison Logic. Monroe provides senior and junior debt and equity co-investments to middle market and lower middle market companies based in the US and Canada. Monroe Capital is led by Theodore Koenig, President and CEO; Michael Egan, EVP & Chief Credit Officer; and Thomas Aronson, Managing Director, Head of Originations. The firm was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Chicago with additional offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, and Toronto (www.monroecap.com).

Seth Rosenfield and John Prunier of New York-based investment bank Petsky Prunier were the financial advisor to Madison Logic on this transaction.

© 2016 Private Equity Professional | December 20, 2016

Riverside Sells Brandmuscle to American Capital

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The Riverside Company has sold Brandmuscle, a provider of local marketing technology and services, to American Capital. The acquisition was financed with equity from American Capital Equity III, LP, a $1.1 billion private equity fund raised in 2014.

Brandmuscle is an advertising and marketing agency that provides software and services that enable brands with distributed sales and marketing channels to create and execute local marketing campaigns across all mediums and formats. The company is led by its CEO Philip Alexander and has approximately 650 employees. Brandmuscle has offices in Chicago, Cleveland, Austin and Newark (www.brandmuscle.com).

Riverside first invested in Brandmuscle in 2011 – the investment was originally known as Centiv Services – and completed the add-on acquisitions of TradeOne Marketing and Brandmuscle, with the combined entity adopting the new name. “Brandmuscle provides a compelling and valuable service, and we’re delighted to have greatly extended its reach during our hold period,” said Riverside Managing Partner Loren Schlachet. “We were able to build on a strong company and grow it both organically and through add-on acquisitions.”

“We were able to greatly expand the customer base and broaden Brandmuscle’s capabilities, which allowed us to deliver more value to our clients,” said Riverside Vice President Brad Resnick. “Brandmuscle has a strong management team who shared our vision and executed that vision ably over the past four years.”

The Riverside Company invests in businesses valued at up to $300 million (€200 million in Europe). Since its founding in 1988, Riverside has invested in more than 380 transactions. The firm’s international portfolio includes more than 70 companies. Riverside is headquartered in New York with additional offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and London (www.riversidecompany.com). Working with Mr. Schlachet and Mr. Resnick on the transaction for Riverside were Partner Alan Peyrat, Operating Partner Rex Niles, Associate Jason Thorn and Finance Director Mike Rath. Riverside Origination Principal Amy Margolis helped facilitate the exit.

American Capital Equity (ACE) is led by partners Justin DuFour, Sean Eagle, Eugene Krichevsky and David Steinglass, and invests between $25 million and $150 million of equity per transaction in the business services, healthcare products and services, and industrial growth end markets.  Typical acquisitions have recurring revenue and EBITDA between $5 million and $25 million.

“Brandmuscle fits very well within ACE’s technology-enabled business services vertical, providing its clients with a wide range of services that facilitate localized marketing by their local affiliates,” said Mr. Krichevsky.

The ACE investor group, led by funds advised by Coller Capital, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and StepStone Group, also includes select sovereign wealth funds, state retirement and pension systems, high net worth family offices, superannuation funds and foundations.  ACE is managed by a subsidiary of American Capital Asset Management which is wholly owned by American Capital. ACE is headquartered in Bethesda (www.acequity.com).

Lincoln International (www.lincolninternational.com), TM Capital (www.tmcapital.com), Deloitte (www.deloitte.com)and Jones Day (www.jonesday.com) advised Riverside on the transaction.

© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 12-4-15

High Road Adds-On with Buy of Ariad

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High Road Capital Partners has acquired Toronto-based Ariad Communications.  High Road will combine the operations of Ariad with its platform company Bluespire Marketing. Mike Beckerman, a 20-year marketing veteran and President of Ariad, will serve as CEO of the combined company.

Ariad is a marketing agency specializing in serving Canadian clients with content, digital marketing and consumer activation capabilities.  The company serves brands ion the consumer packaged goods, business-to-business, and financial services sectors. Customers include Unilever, Degree, OneTouch, Reactine, Johnson & Johnson, Colliers, Visa, D+H, Vale, PwC, SmartCar, among others.  Ariad is headquartered in Toronto with an additional office in Chicago (www.ariad.ca).

Bluespire is a provider of marketing services to healthcare, financial services and senior living companies.  The company specializes in multi-channel marketing with a strong emphasis on end-user content and digital media. Bluespire is headquartered in Minneapolis with offices in Hartford, CT and Montvale, NJ (www.bluespiremarketing.com).

“Ariad and Bluespire are experts in strategy, content and technology with subject matter expertise in healthcare and financial services, giving our existing and prospective clients expanded resources to draw from,” said Mr. Beckerman, who invested in the transaction alongside High Road.   “The combination of our companies gives us the opportunity to bring Bluespire senior living’s market-leading offering to Canada and Ariad’s award-winning consumer packaged goods expertise to the US.”

“Bluespire and Ariad serve large and growing markets that are often regulated, requiring specific expertise with respect to content creation, marketing outreach, and management of customer data,” said Jeff Goodrich, Partner.  Mr. Goodrich led the transaction for High Road. He was supported by Bill Hobbs, Operating Partner; Scott Rubino, Vice President; and James Karle, Associate.

High Road Capital Partners invests in manufacturing, service, or value-added distribution businesses with revenues of $10 million to $100 million and EBITDAs of $3 million to $10 million.  High Road has now completed 36 transactions – 13 platform investments, 19 add-on acquisitions and four exits – since its founding in 2007.  High Road is based in New York (www.highroadcap.com).

Fifth Third Bank, US Bank and Royal Bank of Canada provided senior debt financing for the Ariad acquisition.  Babson Capital Management provided subordinated debt financing and also invested equity in the transaction.

© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 7-7-15

Praesidian Exits Mezzanine Investment in Metanexgen

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Praesidian Capital has exited its $11.5 million subordinated debt investment in Metanexgen, a marketing services company serving the life sciences industry, as a result of the sale of the company by DFW Capital Partners to Insignia Capital Group.

DFW acquired Meta Pharmaceutical Services, a provider of data-driven email and direct mail marketing services, from its founders in August 2010.  At that time, Praesidian provided $6 million in subordinated debt to support the acquisition.  In June 2013 the company acquired NexGen RxMarketing, a provider of online video and virtual meeting marketing services.  Praesidian made an additional investment to support this add-on acquisition.  The combined company was then renamed Metanexgen.

Today, Metanexgen is a provider of data-driven multi-channel marketing services that are used by pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device brands to market their products to healthcare practitioners.  Metanexgen is headquartered near Philadelphia in Bensalem, PA (www.metanexgen.com).

“This has been a highly successful relationship at all levels. We wish Metanexgen only the best as they continue on their growth path,” said Glenn Harrison, a Praesidian Partner.

Praesidian provides senior and mezzanine capital to small and mid-sized businesses that have revenues of $15 million to $200 million and EBITDA of $5 million to $20 million.  The firm typically invests in connection with a management/leveraged buyout, recapitalization or refinancing.  Praesidian is based in New York with an additional office in London and manages nearly $1 billion in committed capital (www.praesidian.com).

“The support we have had from Praesidian in the past five years has allowed our company to expand and evolve,” said Brian Tilley, Partner of DFW Capital Partners.  “Praesidian provided the kind of partnership that any fast-growing organization most desires and rarely finds.  We are grateful to the entire Praesidian team.”

DFW Capital Partners invests in lower middle-market service companies, with an emphasis on healthcare and outsourced business and industrial support services.  The firm is headquartered in Teaneck, NJ, and maintains an office in Chevy Chase, MD (www.dfwcapital.com).

© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 6-25-15

American Capital Invests in BDA

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American Capital has committed up to $75 million in financing for Bensussen, Deutsch & Associates, a provider of merchandising and brand management services.

Bensussen Deutsch & Associates (BDA) provides marketing and brand management services to companies in multiple business segments including major sports leagues, global entertainment, consumer electronics, automotive, consumer packaged goods, beverage, retail, hospitality, financial, medical, energy and heavy machinery.  Customers include Bank of America, Dell, ExxonMobil, The Home Depot, The National Football League, FedEx, Ford Motor Company, GEICO, Caterpillar, General Electric and Major League Baseball.  BDA was founded in 1984 and is based near Seattle in Woodinville, WA (www.bdainc.com).

“BDA serves some of the world’s most admired global brands with its comprehensive set of branded merchandise solutions,” said Gordon O’Brien, President Specialty Finance and Operations at American Capital.  “As a full-service merchandise agency, BDA assists clients in developing promotional merchandise strategies that enhance its clients’ overall marketing message.  The company’s fully integrated, one-stop platform of products and services, and its reliability and creativity have enabled it to create well-established, long-lasting customer relationships.”

American Capital is a publicly traded (NASDAQ: ACAS) private equity firm and asset manager that originates, underwrites and manages investments of $10 million to $750 million in lower and middle market private equity, leveraged finance, real estate, energy & infrastructure and structured products.  From its eight offices in the US and Europe, American Capital and its affiliate, European Capital, will consider investment opportunities from $10 million to $750 million.  American Capital was founded in 1986 and has $83 billion in total assets under management. The firm is headquartered in Bethesda (www.AmericanCapital.com).

“After an extensive review process, American Capital proved to be the perfect partner for BDA as we look to take advantage of our vast growth opportunities, both in North America and abroad,” said Jay Deutsch, BDA Co-Founder and CEO.  “In addition to growth capital, American Capital brings additional in-house resources and cross-industry expertise to accelerate our strategic planning and the growth we are projecting.”

Cascadia Capital, a mid-market investment bank based in Seattle (www.cascadiacapital.com), acted as financial advisor for BDA.

“We’re excited to partner with BDA’s industry leading team as it takes on the next phase of the company’s growth expanding its suite of service offerings and growing its customer base,” added Mr. O’Brien.  “BDA’s top-tier team has a decisive vision for how merchandise will play an even larger role as brands look to capitalize on a robust economy and new opportunities to engage new and existing customers.”

2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 9-26-14