Acquisition brings London digital marketing agency’s revenue to “record” £50m

Croud, a London based, award winning global digital marketing agency, has announced the acquisition of Born Social, a global social media agency also based in London.

This transaction marks Croud’s third acquisition in 12 months. With the support of its private equity partner LDC, it continues to build its group of global businesses.

This follows the acquisition of luxury digital marketing agency VERB Brands in November 2021, and data and analytics company impakt Advisors in December. The transaction takes Croud group’s annual revenues to more than £50m in its latest financial year, a record for the group.

Founded in 2012, Born Social provides specialist strategy, creative, media, management and influencer services to social-first brands such as Nando’s, Guinness and Primark, as well as brand new client wins this year including Uber, Seedlip and Jägermeister. In September this year Born Social received B-Corp certification.

Born Social’s social and brand advertising expertise will bolster Croud’s existing social and creative offering, providing new and existing clients with the best-in-class services across the entire digital ecosystem.

In addition, Born Social’s proprietary measurement and effectiveness tool, Caliper, will complement Croud’s growing data solutions offering by helping clients better articulate the value social media provides for their business, going beyond surface measures like followers, engagement and ROAS.

The business is owned and run by the six-strong leadership team, led by CEO Ben Tyson and COO Charlotte Hamill. With the addition of Born Social’s UK and European workforce, Croud’s global footprint now exceeds 450 people, spanning across the UK, the US, Europe and MENA.

Luke Smith, co-founder and CEO at Croud,commented: “This is a big step for us into the world of brand advertising and creative. Our plan is to bring our two worlds together with this acquisition, turbo-charging our creative offering and enhancing our creative services in the future.

“What we loved about Born Social was that we like and respect the management team and that they stand for something - the work that’s gone into achieving B-Corp status shows commitment to being a better business.”

“We’ve taken our time on the acquisition front, allowing us time to get to know and integrate the VERB and impakt businesses. We’re now ready to add even more firepower to the group with the addition of the impressive team at Born Social.”

By Matthew Neville – Correspondent, Bdaily

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