Private equity firm The Carlyle Group has agreed to merge Obtineo Netherlands Holding with LBi.
Obtineo is a combination of bigmouthmedia, a search engine marketing specialist in Europe and a portfolio company of Carlyle Europe Technology Partners, and EUR40m of newly committed capital.
The combined business, which will continue to trade under LBi, will receive EUR40m from a Pipe transaction in addition to EUR10m from a fully underwritten rights issue.
This additional capital will be used to support further geographic expansion in the US, Asia and Middle East as well as a broadening of services capabilities.
Following the completion of the transaction, LBi will emerge as a Dutch NV with a single listing at NYSE Euronext Amsterdam.
Carlyle Europe Technology Partners has been a long term investor in bigmouthmedia, having merged it with German competitor GlobalMedia in 2006. This latest investment was made in partnership with Cyrte and Janivo.
CETP will remain an investor in the merged entity LBi in order to continue to drive value organically and through consolidation in the marketing and technology sectors.
Bigmouthmedia serves over 300 large brands globally, including British Airways, Marriott Hotels, Paramount, Tesco and BP. The company maximises advertising expenditure for brands online through a variety of digital marketing channels.
LBi provides a range of digital capabilities, including digital strategy, branded content, service design, media, CRM, technology, managed hosting and support services.
The newly merged company now employs over 1,800 professionals across 15 countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
Nazo Moosa, director of Carlyle Europe Technology Partners, says: “This is a transformational deal in a growing market. The combined companies will allow the new entity to offer its clients a fully comprehensive service including digital marketing, consulting and technology services wherever they operate. This also confirms LBi’s position as a leader and creates a solid platform to strengthen reach in the US, Asia and Mena. The company is now exceptionally well placed to take advantage of the irreversible spending shift to online channels.”
Luke Taylor, chief executive of LBi, says: “We welcome this merger of LBi with Obtineo. The sector knowledge and capital commitment from The Carlyle Group, Cyrte and Janivo will support LBi to reach its full potential. The new LBi is now the undisputed market leader in digital marketing and we are excited about the new prospects this transaction has created for the business.”
