Gannett is partnering with private equity firm Generation Partners to fund the continued growth and expansion of the Captivate Network, which will be spun out into a separate company co-owned by Gannett and Generation.
Founded in 1997, Captivate operates an IP-enabled digital place-based media network with over 10,000 screens across more than 1,000 commercial office buildings in the US and Canada.
This partnership will provide Captivate with the necessary capital and strategic focus to drive growth in the coming years. As Gannett expands and invests in higher growth core and new businesses, this move will further focus investment on its media and marketing services transformation strategy. Additionally, Gannett will continue to participate in the future value creation at Captivate and will benefit from the ongoing distribution of its engaging content for Captivate’s displays.
"Captivate is one of the most established brands in the digital place-based industry, with the largest network in North America to reach a highly desirable consumer demographic in a captive office environment," says Andrew Hertzmark, managing partner of Generation Partners. "The company has strong, long-term relationships with both advertisers and property owners and our goal through this partnership is to continue to build on Captivate’s 16-year history of providing a valuable experience for viewers, building owners and advertising customers."
Captivate has appointed Marc Kidd as chief executive officer. Having started his career at Host Communications in the early 1980s, Kidd pioneered the corporate sponsorship business for college and high school sports. In 2004, Kidd joined Winnercomm, a provider of third-party produced content to ESPN. He was named COO of Winnercomm in 2006 and became its president in 2007. Outdoor Channel Holdings acquired Winnercomm in 2009, at which point Kidd became president, media sales of Outdoor Channel Holdings.
"It is an honour to be given the opportunity to lead Captivate," says Kidd. "As a leader in the digital place-based media industry, Captivate is perfectly positioned to take advantage of the growing industry trend of reaching audiences on the go, on the path to purchase. With over 10,000 screens reaching 5.6 million upscale professionals each month in both the US and Canada, Captivate delivers a highly compelling value to advertisers seeking to target a very affluent, but difficult-to-reach, audience. I am thrilled to partner with Generation, Gannett, and the entire Captivate management team and look forward to building on Captivate’s success."
In addition, Mark Shapiro has been named Captivate’s chairman and is an investor alongside Generation. Shapiro has extensive experience and contacts in the advertising, television, sports and entertainment industries and also has a strong track record in the digital place-based media industry. Shapiro was most recently the CEO of Dick Clark Productions (DCP), an entertainment and production company that produced the Golden Globes, the American Music Awards, the Academy of Country Music Awards and many other hit shows.
"The idea of contributing to a company at the epicentre of content, technology, eyeballs and advertising is extremely appealing and very exciting," said Shapiro. "Partnering on this opportunity with Generation and Marc Kidd, both of whom I have known for nearly a decade, combined with the strength and track record of Gannett, provides Captivate with outstanding strategic, financial and execution resources."