marketing services

Baird Capital Acquires Avid Design

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Myelin Health, a platform company of Baird Capital, has acquired Avid Design, a provider of online marketing services to healthcare related companies.  The acquisition closed on June 30, 2014.

Avid Design provides online marketing, communication, and technical products and services to hospitals, healthcare systems, and physician groups.  The company’s products and services include proprietary content management software, consumer-facing websites and internal-facing intranets.  Avid Design is based in Norcross, GA (www.aviddesign.com).

Myelin Health was acquired by Baird Capital in November 2012.  The company operates a system of communication experts with capabilities in creative digital and traditional solutions, strategy and branding concepts, integrated marketing and advertising content, research, data and analytics, mobile engagement, and design.  The company is based in Boston (www.myelinhealth.com).

Baird Capital invests in lower middle-market companies in the manufactured products, healthcare and business services sectors. The firm invests from $15 million to $35 million in companies with enterprise values of $25 million to $125 million and EBITDAs greater than $5 million. Baird Capital was founded in 1989 and is based in Chicago (www.bairdcapital.com).

Generational Equity (www.genequityco.com) represented Avid Design on this transaction.  Managing Director Don Sawyer, Vice President Mark Breheny, and affiliate Will Brooks comprised the Generational Equity deal team that advised Avid on the transaction.

2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 7-16-14

High Road Acquires Martino & Binzer

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BlueSpire Strategic Marketing, a portfolio company of High Road Capital Partners, has acquired Martino & Binzer, a marketing agency that specializes in the senior living sector.

“Senior living communities are increasingly relying on sophisticated marketing services, such as those provided by Martino & Binzer, to build brand awareness, increase occupancy, and drive census. Martino & Binzer’s customer base makes it a natural partner for BlueSpire. Both companies bring complementary know-how in overlapping markets and highly regulated industries,” said Jeff Goodrich, High Road Partner.

Martino & Binzer is a provider of marketing, sales consulting, and technology services to the senior living and continuing care retirement services sector. Martino & Binzer was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Farmington, CT (www.goodbait.com).

“This combination expands BlueSpire’s range of digital marketing services and enhances our ability to reach the important senior demographic for our healthcare and financial clients,” said Kathryn Hammond, Chief Executive Officer of BlueSpire. Ms. Hammond will serve as CEO of the combined business.

BlueSpire Strategic Marketing is a provider of strategy, technology, and content services for companies operating in the healthcare and financial services sectors. BlueSpire has a specialization in multi-channel marketing services with a strong emphasis on end-user content and digital media. BlueSpire was formed through the combination of Dowden Custom Media and Priority Integrated Marketing, which Dowden acquired in June 2011. In November 2012, High Road Capital Partners split Dowden Custom Media into two separate portfolio companies – Dowden Medical Communications Group and BlueSpire Strategic Marketing – with High Road maintaining a majority ownership of both. BlueSpire is headquartered in Minneapolis (www.bluespiremarketing.com).

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. The firm was formed in 2007 and currently manages over $470 million of committed capital. High Road has completed 30 transactions, comprising 29 acquisitions – 12 platform investments, 17 add-on acquisitions – and two exits since its founding in 2007. High Road is based in New York (www.highroadcap.com).

Jeff Goodrich, Partner, led the transaction for High Road. Also working on the transaction from High Road were Ben Schnakenberg, Partner; Bill Hobbs, Partner; and Paul Langley, Senior Associate.

“We are extremely excited to partner with the BlueSpire team to extend a broader range of services to our core client base,” said Dave Martino, President of Martino & Binzer. Mr. Martino and other members of the company’s management team made an equity investment in the transaction alongside High Road. Mr. Martino will remain President of the Martino & Binzer business.

Financing for the acquisition of Martino & Binzer was provided by Fifth Third Bank.

© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 2-24-14

Halyard and Steelpoint Exit Women’s Marketing

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PNC Riverarch has acquired Women’s Marketing Inc. (WMI) from an investor group that includes Halyard Capital and Steelpoint Capital. Halyard Capital acquired a controlling interest in WMI in 2005.

“For the past 8 years, Halyard’s resources and commitment to WMI have provided a critical platform for our success. Our ability to rely on their knowledge of the media space, extensive network of industry experts and financial support has been integral to the successful repositioning of our business,” said Bonnie Kintzer, CEO of WMI.

Women’s Marketing is a provider of media strategy, planning and buying for emerging and re-emerging brands. WMI has about 45 employees and works with approximately 260 companies to deliver value through its aggregated buying power, track record and knowledge of how to best use media to target women and drive purchases. The company was founded in 1982 and has offices in Westport, CT and New York (www.womensmarketing.com).

“It has been very rewarding to help WMI successfully navigate the rapidly shifting media landscape through such turbulent economic times,” said Robert Nolan, Jr., Managing Partner of Halyard Capital. “We’re confident that the strong leadership team currently in place will continue to bring further growth and prosperity to WMI as they embark on this new chapter.”

Halyard specializes in middle-market leveraged buyouts and growth equity investments in technology-enabled information, data analytics, communications and business services companies that cater to industries including healthcare, education, marketing services, human capital management and media. The firm has over $600 million of capital under management and is based in New York (www.halyard.com).

Steelpoint Capital invests in consumer companies in the health, wellness and fitness sectors. The firm is headquartered in San Diego (www.steelpointcp.com).

PNC Riverarch Capital is a middle-market private equity group that invests in privately-held companies headquartered throughout North America. It seeks to invest from $10 million to $50 million per transaction in support of recapitalizations, leveraged and management buyouts, corporate divestitures, and growth financings. Sectors of interest include outsourced services, specialized manufacturing and value-added distribution. Since 1982, PNC Riverarch and its predecessors have provided over $1 billion in capital to more than 100 companies. The firm is based in Pittsburgh (www.riverarchcapital.com).

PNC Riverarch Capital is a division of PNC Capital Finance, which is a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of The PNC Financial Services Group (www.pnc.com).

Women’s Marketing was represented by investment bank Jordan, Edmiston Group (www.jegi.com) which served the company’s exclusive financial advisor on the transaction.

© 2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 2-13-14

KKR Acquires Perka

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First Data Corporation, a portfolio company of KKR, has acquired Perka, provider of a consumer loyalty programs.

Perka is a mobile marketing and consumer loyalty platform that helps small to medium-sized merchants engage their customers with location-based smartphone apps. Perka is an alternative to traditional paper and plastic card-based incentive programs. The cloud-hosted platform features merchant-validated transactions, triggered offers, mobile messaging, and retail customer relationship data for the merchant. Perka operates loyalty programs for businesses ranging from neighborhood coffee shops to modern retailers and supports merchants in all 50 US states, Canada, the UK, Australia, Africa and Latin America. Perka was founded in April 2011 and has offices in New York and Portland (www.getperka.com).

“The loyalty industry is rapidly moving from being proprietary and closed to open and interconnected. This shift opens up tremendous opportunities for small and mid-sized businesses to run virtually the same mobile marketing programs as major brands,” said Alan Chung, chief executive officer, Perka. “We’re excited to join forces with First Data to revolutionize the loyalty space and level the playing ground for smaller merchants with the Perka platform.”

First Data Corporation is a provider of electronic commerce and payment services for merchants, financial institutions and card issuers globally, with operations in 35 countries, serving over 6 million merchant locations and over 4,500 financial institutions. The company was acquired by KKR in 2007 and is headquartered in Atlanta (www.firstdata.com).

“Perka is a strong addition to the offerings we have for our merchants today and we welcome them to the First Data product family,” said Guy Chiarello, president, First Data. “Loyalty is a critical component of the seamless shopping experience that consumers are demanding as they engage with mobile phones more than ever. With Perka’s open and scalable platform, merchants of any size now have agility to customize a mobile loyalty marketing program that works for their business needs.”

KKR makes private equity, fixed income and other investments in companies in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The firm has $83 billion in assets under management. In addition to its New York headquarters the firm has offices in Menlo Park, San Francisco, Houston, Washington DC, London, Paris, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, Mumbai, Dubai and Sydney (www.kkr.com).

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 10-30-13

Keating Capital Completes Tremor Video IPO

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Tremor Video, a portfolio company of Keating Capital, has completed the pricing of its initial public offering of 7.5 million shares of common stock at a price of $10 per share. The company’s shares are now trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol TRMR.

Keating Capital invested $4 million in Tremor Video in September 2011. Based on the IPO price, Keating Capital’s investment in Tremor Video common stock would have a value of approximately $6 million, representing 1.5x its investment cost. Keating Capital’s stock is not eligible for resale until after the 180-day post-IPO lockup period.

Tremor Video is an online video technology and advertising company that provides video advertising services to major brand advertisers and publishers of Web videos. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in New York (www.tremorvideo.com).

Keating Capital is a business development company that specializes in making pre-IPO investments in growth companies that are committed to and capable of becoming public. Tremor Video is the fourth Keating Capital portfolio company (out of a total of 20 portfolio company investments) that has successfully completed an IPO since Keating Capital’s first portfolio company investment in January 2010. Keating Capital has also exited one other portfolio company as part of a sale of a controlling stake to a private equity firm. Keating Capital is based in Greenwood Village, CO (www.keatingcapital.com).

Credit Suisse and Jefferies acted as joint book-running managers for the Tremor Video IPO which raised $75 million in gross proceeds. Canaccord Genuity and Oppenheimer & Co acted as co-managers for the offering.

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 6-28-13

Glencoe Capital Acquires South Shore Venture Enterprises

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Budco, a marketing services provider and a portfolio company of Glencoe Capital, has acquired South Shore Venture Enterprises, a Medicare direct marketing company.

South Shore specializes in direct marketing to senior citizens and represents 38 Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement plans. South Shore provides direct mail, customer care, data analysis and modeling and incentives. The company is based in Treasure Island, FL (www.southshoreventure.com).

Budco is a provider of marketing services to Fortune 100 companies operating in the automotive, pharmaceutical, healthcare, financial services, travel and leisure and consumer packaged goods sectors. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Highland Park, MI (www.budco.com).

“The addition of South Shore expands our footprint in the healthcare and insurance vertical markets while adding additional thought leadership to our company,” said Budco Chief Operating Officer Rob Hyman. “South Shore’s President, Bob Ditwiler, who will continue in his role as President of South Shore, has been involved in Medicare marketing for many years and is a sought after speaker for national conferences on the best ways to connect and build lasting relations with the senior market. This acquisition will integrate well with future Budco healthcare offerings we currently have in development.”

Glencoe Capital makes acquisitions and growth equity investments in lower-middle market companies that have EBITDAs between $3 million and $15 million. The firm manages more than $650 million of committed capital and has completed over 35 acquisitions representing more than $1 billion in transaction value across its family of four private equity funds. Founded in 1993, Glencoe Capital has offices in Chicago and in Birmingham (a suburb of Detroit) (www.glencap.com).

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-17-13