Langdon’s Digital Marketing Group buys Cheeze agency

Digital Marketing Group, the company headed up by former chairman of Euro RSCG London Ben Langdon, has acquired digital media planning and buying agency Cheeze.

The company has also acquired data network Alphanumeric Group, which trades as Jaywing, in a deal priced at £24m in cash and shares for both firms. It adds the acquisitons to existing marketing firms it already owns Dig for Fire and HSM.

Langdon, chief executive of Digital Marketing Group, said: “We are delighted to welcome two such high quality and fast growing businesses as Jaywing and Cheeze into Digital Marketing Group. With these acquisitions, we have expanded our integrated digital marketing platform quicker than forecast.

“We are now able to offer digital marketing, digital media, direct marketing and data services within a highly focused, specialist group, and will proactively build on the enormous cross-selling opportunities this offers.”

Digital media planning and buying agency Cheeze, founded by Katherine Jerman and Jamie Riddell in 1999. The company is based in Ipswich, with offices in London and Leeds. The company recorded a turnover of £10.5m last year and a profit before tax of £768,000.

All of the share capital of Cheeze has been acquired for a total of £9.5m, comprising £6m in cash and 6,140,351 shares in DMG.

In addition, Cheeze will receive a maximum of a further 1,754,386 contingent consideration shares in DMG in March 2008, subject to business performance.

Jaywing is an independent marketing, credit and fraud consultancy company, specialising in data interrogation and analysis and the designing of data-driven marketing initiatives. The company was set up in 1999 by Martin Boddy and Andy Gardner, and has offices in Derby, Harrow, Wakefield and Witney. Jaywing has an annual turnover of £10.8m and profits of £1.3m. The company was acquired for an initial £14.5m, comprising £8.6m in cash and 9,833,333 shares in DMG.

Landon added that the company was looking for further acquisition targets: “We will also consider opportunities to acquire businesses that further enhance our offering, either in web design and build, mobile, B2B or digital media and entertainment. We are determined to leverage our skills to become the pre-eminent digital direct marketing group in the UK and we now have the core businesses to make this happen.”

Langdon left Euro RSCG in September 2005 along with Marc Lepere, Euro RSCG Worldwide’s chief marketing officer, as part of changes made by the network’s new chief executive David Jones.

Source: www.revolutionmagazine.com