LDC-BACKED MSQ ENHANCES USER ACQUISITION AND CREATIVE SERVICES WITH ACQUISITION OF MIRI GROWTH

MSQ, one of the UK’s fastest growing independent marketing and technology groups, has acquired Miri Growth, a fully managed user acquisition and creative services agency, with the support of private equity partner LDC.

The transaction marks MSQ’s third acquisition in 13 months and follows the acquisition of design consultancy Elmwood, which was merged with Holmes & Marchant to create an international design group in December 2021, and the acquisition of the creative production studio Brave Spark in October 2021.

Miri Growth (Miri) works collaboratively with mobile gaming and mobile app developers to produce and test creative content to attract and retain high-value users across digital channels. It seeds that content out through performance marketing campaigns on channels such as Meta, TikTok, Google and Snapchat, measuring success and performance in acquiring users to drive profitable growth.

Miri is led by co-founders Adam Turowski and Zach van Driel, and the scale and support structures of MSQ, including its global footprint in the USA and Asia, will help the team to accelerate growth through attracting a broader client base and international talent to join its 40-strong team. Miri’s revenues for the year ending July 2022 were £4.8m and the business will retain its agency name and management structure, with Adam and Zach reporting into MSQ’s Executive Director, Ben Rudman.

The acquisition will also enhance MSQ’s existing user acquisition and content skills, particularly bringing greater depth in mobile app acquisition and deep knowledge of digital channels, such as TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Google.

Peter Reid, Global Chief Executive at MSQ, said: “Miri is a highly creative, agile and successful business and we look forward to welcoming the team into the MSQ family to further build our creatively led, tech-enabled and data driven business model. By joining us, Miri will not only be able to grow globally quicker but will have access to deeper data, analytics and performance reporting capabilities.”

Leading mid-market private equity firm LDC invested in MSQ in 2019 to support the management team’s plans to accelerate the roll-out of its successful multi-disciplinary model and support the continued growth of its individual agencies. The private equity investor is actively working with the management team to explore complementary acquisitions that support these plans.

John Clarke, Investment Director at LDC, added: “This transaction is a great example of a buy and build strategy in action. There is a strong cultural and strategic fit between the two businesses and by joining forces, MSQ and Miri will be able to fulfil their growth ambitions further and faster whilst continuing to create opportunities for their people and clients. It’s been a pleasure to support the team on the transaction and we’re looking forward seeing what’s next in store for MSQ.”

MSQ is one of the UK’s fastest growing independent marketing and technology groups with more than 1,100 people working across 10 agencies in 13 global offices. Clients include Unilever, Vodafone, Coca-Cola and Zalando. It recently celebrated its tenth year with its strongest results yet, with revenue increasing by 57% (to £91.3m) and EBITDA rising 51% (to £11.4m) in the financial year to the end of February 2022.