S4 Capital's MediaMonks announces merger with Melbourne-based BizTech

S4 Capital announced that its global content arm MediaMonks conditionally agreed to what the company terms a merger with BizTech, based in Melbourne.

Billed as a marketing-transformation and customer-experience company, BizTech employs about 90 people in offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Toronto, Moscow and Astana, Kazakhstan. It is a Gold partner in the Adobe Solution Partner Programme, and the merger will allow MediaMonks and MightyHive to expand their existing relationship with that software provider, according to S4 Capital. BizTech reports revenues of approximately A$15 million (US$10.4 million), according to a release.

The deal also will establish MediaMonks' footprint in Australia and Canada. S4 Capital already operates in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand through MightyHive, but will now "gain a fully integrated content and programmatic operation in Australia and Canada on which to build, as well as a global centre of expertise in customer experience and Adobe capabilities", according to the release.

“We are delighted with the proposed deal, which will bring Michael [Patishman, CEO], Tim [Goodman, CTO], and the entire BizTech team to the S4 Capital family," Sir Martin Sorrell, executive chairman of S4Capital, said in the release. "Their highly specialised Adobe expertise and close-knit client relationships make BizTech the perfect partner to accelerate our business in Australia and beyond.”

The merger will be funded cash resources and the consideration will be payable in cash and ordinary shares of S4 on a 50/50 basis, with lock-up restrictions. The merger is subject to completion of the ongoing audit and documentation process and merger control, S4 Capital said.

"We are thrilled to be asked to partner with S4Capital and launch MediaMonks in new territories in Australia, which offers exciting opportunities for our people and a broader service offering for our clients," Patishman said.

Added Goodman, "It gives us great pleasure to partner with S4Capital and continue the journey we started 11 years ago. We look forward to working with Victor [Knapp, MediaMonks CEO] and the team to expand our offering globally."