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Match Marketing
About the Company
Match Marketing Group (“Match” or the “Company”) provides a suite of marketing services focused on driving consumer engagement, brand recognition and sales conversion. The Company is comprised of two business segments Public Label, a creative agency focused on helping brands align with consumer motivations and cultural movements and Match Retail, an agency focused on helping brands become retail ready. Specific service offerings across the two business segments include creative, strategy insights and data analytics, social and digital media, shopper marketing, experiential marketing, merchandising and retail solutions. Match’s client roster includes numerous Fortune 500 Companies, spanning consumer packaged goods, automotive, insurance, service businesses, technology, electronics and retailers. Public Label label is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado and Match Retail is located in Toronto, ON.
Phase 1 Strategic Assessment
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Situation
Match Marketing Group was developed through a roll up of a collection of marketing agencies prior to Southfield’s acquisition in 2018. When the COVID pandemic hit in early 2020, the marketing and creative agency industry was among many industries negatively impacted. Global stay at home mandates reduced the demand for marketing support to brick and mortar retailers, and mass gatherings and large audience based events were put on hold. Further, the Board of Directors had hired new leadership in Q3’19 to facilitate a strategic re-imagination and modernization of Match’s core offerings through the investment in, and acquisition of, new tools, companies and capabilities.
Engagement
G2 Capital Advisors, LLC (“G2”) was initially engaged by by the Board of Directors of Match to evaluate strategic alternatives for the Company in service of helping them realize their long term vision, including a current state analysis of the business, assessment of potential growth opportunities and development of capital alternatives. Following thoughtful consideration of the strategic alternatives by all stakeholders, Match’s Board of Directors engaged G2 to pursue a recapitalization of the business with a new source of debt and equity capital under a focusedmarket process.
Outcome
The transaction was successfully executed on December 23, 2020 through a sale of Public Label and Match Retail to Innovatus Capital Partners, LLC, an independent investment adviser and portfolio management firm, with a private debt and diversified asset based strategy. This acquisition comes on the heals of Innovatus’ purchase of VSA Partners, and in preparation for future acquisitions as they seek to develop a global marketing agency. Both Public Label and Match Retail are experiencing positive momentum since the acquisition, and combined with Innovatus’ vision and capital are poised for strong growth.
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