AIM-listed digital media and martech company Brave Bison, backed by brothers Oli and Theo Green, has agreed to acquire the global sports marketing business Engage Digital Partners in a deal totalling £11m.
The acquisition, which follows a failed bid to buy Mission Group earlier this year, will see Engage unite with the Brave Bison Media Network of sports and entertainment channels, which works for the PGA Tour, Ryder Cup, US Open, Australian Open, CPLT20 and Le Mans to offer channel and rights management services alongside content strategy and production.
Engage delivers dynamic fan engagement campaigns via a broad roster of services including digital content and commercial strategy, creative production, social media management, measurement, analytics and digital asset management through an owned technology stack.
Its clients include Formula 1, ICC, Real Madrid, and New Zealand Rugby. It was established by CEO Gregg Oldfield following a management buyout from Endemol Sport in 2012. Engage has offices in London, Australia and India, and over 130 staff worldwide.
The business uses a combination of proprietary technology, digital strategy and content creation to help sports federations and rights holders drive fan engagement and take a more personalised approach to building audiences, driving ticket sales and striking more lucrative commercial partnerships.
The combined entity will create an enlarged sports and entertainment division for Brave Bison that will service some of the biggest federations across football, cricket, rugby, motorsports, tennis, golf and e-sports and total £16m in pro-forma turnover.
It will be led by Engage’s existing CEO Gregg Oldfield, alongside chief business officer Casey Harwood in partnership with Brave Bison’s VP of video and audience development Adam Raw and head of sport Martin Ruffell. In Australia, the division will continue to be led by executive general manager Emma Kinlon, and in India by managing director Umang Uthappa.
The newly combined entity will also work closely with Brave Bison’s social-first creative and strategy agency, SocialChain, to help sport and entertainment brands unlock new audiences through emerging channels and culture strategy, as well as helping leading brands activate their sports sponsorships and partnerships through social media channels – from content to commerce.
Brave Bison acquired SocialChain in February 2023 and this year the agency insists it will deliver 50% revenue growth year on year following a number of high-profile client wins including Holland & Barrett, SharkNinja, Linkedin and Greene King.
Brave Bison executive chairman Oli Green commented: “Engage boasts an enviable client roster and deep expertise in sports media and digital content strategy. This combination comes at a time when rights holders and sports federations are looking to maximise their IP, boost fan engagement and really drive commercial performance using a more data driven approach.
“We look forward to working with Gregg Oldfield and Casey Harwood as the leaders of the combined business, as well as the best-in-class Engage team to build dynamic digital solutions leveraging content, media and technology to help the worlds’ most ambitious sports federations and brands capitalise on the complexity of the digital age.”
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