Barkley

Canaccord Genuity Advises Barkley on its Strategic Investment from Keystone Capital

Canaccord Genuity is pleased to announce it has advised Barkley on its strategic investment from private equity firm Keystone Capital.  Barkley, a 2023 Ad Age Agency Standout (Top 25) and a 2022 Adweek Agency of the Year Shortlist Finalist (Top 10), is a full-service, independent strategy and creative idea company that helps build whole brands and their biggest possible futures.

Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Kansas City, with offices in New York City, Denver, and Pittsburgh, Barkley and its team of more than 500 partners is focused on building whole brands for modern consumers.  Barkley views a whole brand as an organization that treats everything it does as the brand. A core, long idea — “a red thread” — guides, inspires, and connects every action a whole brand takes across the spectrum of marketing ideas to business ideas.  Full of purpose and action, a whole brand matches what it says and does inside and out, while measuring success by balancing profit and performance with its impact on people, communities, and the planet.  Barkley works with leading brands across various end markets including Planet Fitness, AMC Theatres, Dairy Queen, Red Lobster, E-Z-GO, WaWa, US Bank, Valent, and Motel 6, among others.

Keystone Capital was founded in 1994 with the goal of acquiring high quality, market-leading niche businesses; building them alongside management through organic growth and strategic acquisition.  Over the course of its history, Keystone has completed over 160 acquisitions across a wide range of sectors including professional & tech-enabled services, engineering & technical services, commercial services, engineered products, and food & beverage manufacturing.  Keystone’s investments all share one thing in common – a mutual commitment by management and Keystone to build a sustainable, market-leading business thoughtfully and patiently.  The firm’s office is located in Chicago, Illinois, and Keystone’s currently active portfolio consists of 17 individual platform businesses. More information can be obtained from Keystone’s website www.keystonecapital.com.

Barkley will continue to be led by its management team, including CEO Jeff King and President Dan Fromm.  Keystone will provide strategic leadership in mergers and acquisitions, helping Barkley identify and invest in key areas of the business to drive growth while maintaining the company’s independence, Whole Brand Thinking™ approach, and Certified B Corporation status.