New Investor Bridgepoint Takes Majority Stake in MiQ

Marketing intelligence and programmatic media specialist MiQ has sold a majority stake to private equity firm Bridgepoint, in a deal said to value the company at up to $1 billion.

MiQ was founded in 2010 by Gurman Hundal and Lee Puri, in London, and now has operations in North America, Europe and APAC employing over 1,000 people in 22 offices. The company connects clients' first-party data and enhances it with second- and third-party: it then analyses the results and uses this to build creative with the right messages and target it via programmatic ad campaigns.

Following the buy, Bridgepoint will support MiQ's existing management team to further develop its programmatic media solutions, expand internationally and grow its client base. Previous investors - private equity firms ECI Partners and GP Bullhound - have sold their stakes after supporting the company's rapid growth over the last five years.

'Our success is built on revolutionizing the way companies can maximize data' comments Hundal, who is the firm's Global Executive Chairman, 'but unique business challenges around data science, analytics and programmatic trading are getting more complex every day. Bridgepoint's proven track record of innovative and scalable investments matches our ambition to move to the next chapter to deliver for our people and clients'. Adds Puri: 'The connected and data-driven world continues to change and MiQ will evolve along with it. We're beyond excited to work with Director Charles Welham and Partner and Chief Investment Officer Xavier Robert, as well as the entire Bridgepoint team, in this new milestone in our global growth journey'.

Web sites: www.bridgepoint.eu and www.wearemiq.com .