Hyderabad, NFAPost: Leading Ad-Tech firm Brightcom Group has acquired 100% stake in digital marketing firm Vuchi Media for Rs 566 crore in cash and stock value. Vuchi Media operates under the brand name MediaMint.
“Rs 360 crore will be paid in cash on closing the deal, while Rs 170 crore as equivalent to BCG stock value and balance Rs 36 crore in 6 months after buyout,” said the city-based acquiring firm in a statement.
As a digital consulting and digital operations provider, MediaMint specialises in advertisement operations, campaign management, creative services, data analytics, platform support and DevOps.
“Post-acquisition, MediaMint will continue its trajectory to serve enterprise and market-leading clients,” said the statement.
Vuchi co-founder Aditya will be in the merged firm for 6 months to ensure a smooth transition, while its leadership team comprising Neelima Marupuru, Anush Kumar, Jason Riback and Aashay Paradkar will continue to guide its business growth.
Tempus Legal was the legal counsel in the transaction, while Ernst and Young (E&Y) was the financial advisor to Brightcom and Sathguru Management Consultants was the consultant for MediaMint.
Explaining the rationale for the acquisition, Brightcom said as the adverting and technology sector worldwide were witnessing huge growth due to shifting to online marketing amid the pandemic, it was expanding its backend office to expand its capacity to harness emerging opportunities.
“Addition of MediaMint’s digital marketing operations will strengthen our group’s backend in supporting the anticipated growth of the business across sub-sectors of Digital advertising and media,” said the statement.
MediaMint has 1,300 employees, servicing international clients such as Pinterest, New York Times, Netflix, Cox Automotive and Expedia. It has projected Rs 187 crore annual revenue for this fiscal (2021-22).
Known for its data-driven approach, flexibility and scalability, MediaMint was founded in 2010 as a bootstrapped firm without raising external capital. The company provides display, video and mobile advertising services for ad agencies, publishers, and platforms.
With offices in India, Poland and the US, MediaMint works with creative agencies, publishers, media buying firms and analytics platforms to deliver results for top brands.
“MediaMint will enable us to build robust solutions, which will bring customers faster. We see the potential for organic growth in its backend services business. The acquisition enhances our M&A strategy by having a robust backend support model to improve future targets,” said Brightcom chairman Suresh Reddy.
MediaMint president Jason Riback said its clients would continue to rely on its service and support even after the merger with Brightcom.
“We will have the capacity to accelerate, enhance flexibility, scalability and efficiency to deliver to business leaders the world over,” added Riback./eom/430 words.
