August 2013
Engauge
Petsky Prunier advises Engauge Marketing on its sale to Publicis Groupe
August 15, 2013 (New York, NY) – Petsky Prunier is pleased to announce it has advised Engauge Marketing, one of the largest independent advertising and digital services agencies, on its sale to France-based Publicis Groupe.
Engauge is a digital agency with full-service marketing and advertising capabilities and a core competency in social media and mobile marketing. The agency provides these services to a client roster of more than 30 brands, including Nationwide Insurance, Cisco Systems, and Coca-Cola. Engauge, which has offices in Atlanta, Columbus, Orlando, and Pittsburgh, is a portfolio company of Halyard Capital, a private equity firm with more than $600 million of capital under management focused on creating value within the Information and Knowledge economies through thesis-driven investments. Engauge and Halyard Capital hired Petsky Prunier several months ago after receiveing inbound interest from a few strategic parties. Petsky Prunier responded to that interest and ran a limited process that culminated in the sale of the Company to Publicis Groupe.
Launched in 2007, Engauge was formed from the union of Ten United, a Columbus-based advertising agency, Spunlogic, a digital marketing services company in Atlanta, and Direct Impact, a data analytics and CRM company in Austin, Texas. These combined areas of expertise have given Engauge a strong position in an increasingly digitally-driven advertising services sector.
Engauge will join ZenithOptimedia Group in the United States and will be aligned with Moxie, a digital advertising agency based in Atlanta. ZenithOptimedia will look to maximize operational synergies and complementary capabilities across the two organizations while maintaining the Engauge and Moxie brands in the marketplace. Together, Moxie and Engauge, will have more than 600 employees, and will comprise the largest array of digital marketing resources in the Southeast. These two leading digital companies will offer clients a fully integrated advertising and digital organization with innovative services and solutions in strategy, creative, social marketing, media, data analytics, and technology development.
A team from Petsky Prunier, led by Sanjay Chadda and Michael Petsky, served as exclusive financial advisor to Engauge Marketing.
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