St Ives Buys Digital Agency Branded3 for £10.7m

UK marketing services and print group St. Ives has continued its recent buying spree, with the acquisition of London and Leeds-based digital agency Branded3 from co-founders Vin Chinnaraja and Patrick Altoft. The deal is valued at up to £10.7m.

In 2011, St Ives acquired London-based consumer insights specialist Incite for a total consideration of £14.2m, then last year it bought Twickenham-based retail and consumer consultancy Pragma for an initial £3.3m, and data marketing agency Response for £18.4m.

The acquisition of Branded3 will add search engine optimisation and social media marketing to St Ives' marketing services portfolio, along with a full suite of web analytics tools for conversion tracking, traffic and keyword monitoring, reputation management and web site quality scoring.

In a statement, St Ives said the deal is part of its strategy of adding further value to existing and new clients. The firm will initially pay £10.7m for Branded3, with a further possible £14.3m payable dependent on incremental financial performance until the beginning of 2016. Following the acquisition, Branded3 will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of St Ives, and will continue to be managed from its current locations by its existing management team.

Patrick Martell, St Ives' CEO, comments: 'Our combination of insight-led innovation and trusted execution across digital and physical media creates a unique offering in the market. Branded3 is an exciting addition to our group and we are looking forward to supporting its growth plans.'

Web sites: www.st-ives.co.uk and www.branded3.com .