M&A firm advises a leading advertising and marketing services agency to national retailers in platform acquisition by private equity firm
NEW YORK – M&A firm AdMedia Partners announced it acted as exclusive financial advisor to GA|PRC Group, a leading retail marketing agency, in its acquisition by RFE Investment Partners along with its equity partners Caymus Equity Partners and Starboard Capital Partners, and with debt financing provided by Fifth Third Bancorp and CapitalSouth Partners.
GA|PRC Group (comprised of GA, PureRed Creative and GAPRC Interactive) is a leading advertising agency that designs and executes integrated retail marketing programs – including premedia advertising execution, digital creative/design, digital asset management services, photographic services and interactive services – for national retailers including Dollar General, Duane Reade, Kohl’s, Lowe’s, Michaels, Safeway, SUPERVALU and S.P. Richards. As a single source provider of a customized turnkey solution, GA|PRC ‘s services significantly reduce retailers’ marketing operations costs, improve marketing execution processes and improve the brand experience at every touch point of their marketing campaigns through a broad set of eye-catching design, photographic and creative services. GA|PRC was founded in 1967, has 430 employees and is based in Stone Mountain, GA.
“This transaction demonstrates again that there is significant demand across a wide spectrum of leading private equity firms for platform marketing services companies with blue chip clients and attractive growth characteristics,” said Greg Smith, Managing Director at AdMedia Partners.
About AdMedia Partners
AdMedia Partners is a leading provider of middle market mergers and acquisitions advisory services to digital and traditional media, marketing and information businesses. Founded in 1990 and located in New York City, the firm has completed over 180 transactions worth over $8 billion since 1999. For more information, please visit www.admediapartners.com.
Select recent transactions completed by AdMedia Partners include representing the following firms:
ICUC, a leading social media moderating, monitoring and community development company, in its acquisition by Aegis Media’s iProspect.
LEVEL Studios, a leading digital marketing and technology services agency, in its acquisition by Rosetta, the largest independent interactive agency in the US and a portfolio company of Lindsay Goldberg.
OLSON, a leading integrated advertising/marketing agency, in its recapitalization and equity investment from KRG Capital Partners.
Cheil Worldwide in its acquisition of The Barbarian Group, an award winning digital creative and marketing company.
iCrossing Inc., a global digital marketing company, in its acquisition of Web development agency Proxicom, Inc.
Range Online Media, a search marketing and online media agency, in its acquisition by iProspect, a subsidiary of Aegis Group plc.
New Media Strategies, a leading interactive word of mouth marketing agency, in its acquisition by Meredith Corporation.
Brulant, one of the largest independent interactive marketing agencies, in its acquisition by Rosetta, a portfolio company of Lindsay Goldberg.
Triad Digital Media, LLC, an online media and advertising services company, in its significant growth capital investment from H.I.G. Ventures, LLC.
Marketing Direct, Inc., a leading provider of integrated marketing services to the healthcare industry, in its acquisition by KBM Group, a Wunderman company and member of WPP.
Media Storm, a leading media buying and planning agency, in its equity investment from Shamrock Capital.
About RFE Investment Partners
Located in New Canaan, CT, RFE Investment Partners (www.rfeip.com) is a private equity investment firm focusing on smaller, middle-market service, manufacturing and healthcare-service businesses. Since its founding in 1979, RFE has made investments in more than 120 companies operating in a variety of industries. RFE’s investment capital has spanned 7 partnerships, collectively amounting to more than $800 million of invested and available capital, and is currently investing from RFE Investment Partners 7, L.P., a $212 million private equity investment fund. RFE’s investors include corporate and state pension funds, banks and endowments.
About Caymus Equity Partners
Caymus Equity Partners (www.caymuspartners.com) invests in profitable middle and lower-middle market companies in attractive niches with strong growth potential. Caymus Equity Partners focuses on opportunities where it can leverage its prior experience and creativity to generate substantial value through a combination of organic and strategic acquisition growth. Caymus Equity Partners is an affiliate of Caymus Partners, a leading middle market investment bank.
About Starboard Capital Partners
Starboard Capital Partners is a financial and strategic sponsor that partners with management and private equity investors primarily in the acquisition of companies with initial enterprise values of $25 million to $250 million. Starboard principally focuses on developing partnerships with company owners and managements to enhance value through focused planning, driving organic initiatives and opportunistic add-on acquisitions. Starboard’s current portfolio of eight platform businesses represents more than $1 billion of revenue and approximately $100 million of EBITDA.
About Fifth Third Bancorp
Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Fifth Third has $111 billion in assets and operates 15 affiliates with 1,314 full-service Banking Centers. Fifth Third’s Structured Finance Group is a National Business Unit that calls on Private Equity Groups, providing both senior and subordinated debt to capitalize both acquisitions and recapitalizations.
About CapitalSouth Partners
CapitalSouth Partners was founded in 1998 to provide private equity and mezzanine capital to lower middle-market companies. Since its inception, CapitalSouth has closed over 60 transactions. With over $600 Million under management through multiple committed funds, CapitalSouth actively seeks to invest in lower middle-market companies located primarily in the South, but also throughout the U.S.
CapitalSouth Partners is headquartered in Charlotte, NC and operates full-service offices in Dallas, TX, Louisville, KY, Raleigh, NC and Orlando, FL.
