Data Science Firm Jaywing Buys Bloom Media

Data science firm Jaywing has acquired Leeds, UK-based digital marketing agency Bloom Media for an initial £2.41m, with an additional consideration of up to £5.75m subject to performance over a two-year period.

Founded by Alex Craven (pictured) in 2006, Bloom provides a combination of data, creative, digital and social media services, along with a suite of proprietary data and insight tools. The latter includes tools for customer segmentation and profiling, customer lifetime value analysis, influencer identification, and real-time social media analysis. In addition, the firm provides web site analytics and user experience (UX) analysis, and its 'Whisper' real-time behavioural insight tool is used for analysing social media data.

For the twelve months ended 29th February 2016, Bloom generated gross profit and profit before tax of £1.94m and £279k respectively. To fund the acquisition, Jaywing has issued a placement to raise £3m through the issue of 10,000,000 new ordinary shares, alongside new bank debt of £1.0m. Jaywing will use part of the placing proceeds to invest in a newly formed joint-venture, which will be responsible for developing the enlarged company's data product set, supported by Bloom's existing management team.

In a statement, Jaywing said that following its recent acquisition of Australia-based search marketing agency Massive Group, it has sought to broaden and enhance its data science product set, and this latest acquisition will accelerate its plan to develop a suite of digital products including a social media and behavioural analytics tool. Craven will be responsible for developing and monetising all Jaywing's data science-led products.

Jaywing CEO Martin Boddy says of the deal: 'This acquisition is a fundamental building block in our strategy to distribute data science-led products internationally. It gives us additional products and an experienced individual to lead that part of our business. Alex and his team are a great cultural fit and I'm absolutely delighted to have them as part of the team'.

Web sites: www.jaywing.com and www.bloomagency.co.uk .