Entertainment Benefits Group (EBG), one of the largest privately-held travel and entertainment providers in the US, has acquired Boston-based Working Advantage, an employee deals portal that provides shopping discounts at more than 10,000 organisations to more than ten million employees.
EBG’s Corporate Program Division, which provides perks and reward solutions to over 60 percent of the Fortune 1000, will integrate Working Advantage’s portfolio of discount entertainment tickets and shopping discounts into its existing product offerings. The acquisition increases EBG’s user base from 50 million to over 60 million users, and increases the number of corporations it works with to 40,000 corporations across the US, creating the largest entertainment and travel benefit provider in the country.
“We are extremely excited to add Working Advantage to our existing portfolio of brands. We now have the ability to offer our expanded technology, service and amazing deals, to ensure we deliver on our mission to help create memorable experiences for our customers,” says Brett Reizen, president and chief executive officer of EBG. “EBG has been fortunate to have experienced tremendous growth over the past few years, and this acquisition further solidifies our commitment to innovating, growing and looking for opportunities that make a difference for our own employees, our clients and their employees, our customers and our supplier partners.”
Founded in 1995 as Corporate Movie Club and originally offering a focused program of movie theatre and movie rental discounts, the company rebranded in 2001 as Working Advantage to better reflect an expanded variety of entertainment and shopping discounts.
“From our inception, Working Advantage was created to help improve employee morale, loyalty and retention for corporate clients by providing amazing deals, fun experiences and exclusive offers,” says David Nerrow, chief executive officer of Working Advantage. “EBG shares that vision. The combined strengths of the two companies will provide significant benefits for the millions of members serviced through the programs.”
EBG has experienced substantial growth in the last two years, both organically and through mergers and acquisitions. In April 2014, EBG announced a merger with Plum Benefits1, which helped double the roster of clients, and deliver an expanded portfolio of nationwide travel and entertainment products, an enhanced user experience and new ticketing technology for the Plum Benefits clients and their employees.
Prior to the merger, Plum Benefits was owned by the Shubert Organization, Broadway's largest theatre owner and operator. By combining Plum Benefits with EBG’s TicketsatWork, this merger created the EBG Corporate Program Division, and a separate entity with investments by the Shubert Organization and EBG. The merger immediately expanded the offerings and value available to the members of both TicketsatWork and Plum Benefits with unmatched access to Broadway Theater, as well as major entertainment companies including Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and Cirque du Soleil, among hundreds of others. In addition to broadening its entertainment offerings, members of both programs also benefited from exclusive hotels rates and access to over 150,000 hotels worldwide. TicketsatWork and Plum Benefits corporate clients include Fortune 500 companies and many of the top US corporations including; Macy’s, Verizon, UPS, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Baptist Healthcare and American Express to name a few.
EBG’s Corporate Programs support the ongoing need for companies to be recognized as an Employer of Choice, providing their employees with special perks and “soft benefits” that help individuals enjoy life beyond work. EBG’s Corporate Programs provide a truly exclusive benefit for participating corporate clients and their employees.
Working Advantage will retain its brand name – becoming another distinguished brand in the EBG network. By adding Working Advantage to EBG’s closed loop, private network of brands, EBG will increase its distribution for products and provide additional opportunities to reach a larger, sought-after, captive audience of corporate employees. Many of EBG’s esteemed clients are considered “The Top Places to Work”.
In addition to the Shubert Organisation as a strategic investor in EBG’s Corporate Program Division, EBG primary investors include EBG co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Brett Reizen, and Cirque du Soleil, one of the largest global producers of live artistic entertainment, that was recently acquired by an investment group led by TPG Capital, a global private investment firm.
Financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.
