Direct marketing media chief Mike Colling will be even more bullish than normal today – if that is possible – after the company he founded in 2001 as Mike Colling & Company has completed a deal with accessible debt finance specialist Oak North.
A year ago, the agency secured a £6.6m investment from private equity house Key Capital Partners for a significant minority stake, providing growth capital to expand the business on an international scale through the formation of a new MC&C Group.
Now it has the financial muscle to carry on that expansion.
Since launching its first fund in 2007, KCP has invested a total of £65m in 15 businesses across a variety of sectors, from school catering and internet retailing to nursing care, telecoms and recruitment. KCP specialises in working with profitable medium sized businesses with potential for growth.
Typically, the firm makes investments of between £3m and £15m and claims to have highly experienced partners who are able to advise the management teams of its portfolio businesses, helping them to realise their expansion ambitions.
Colling said: “Since our founding, we have been very fortunate to work with some of the world’s most established and well-known brands across a multitude of sectors. In both KCP and OakNorth, we have found partners who understand our vision and ambitions for the future. The two worked seamlessly together, ensuring we were kept fully up to date throughout the entire process, and that a structure was developed that best suited our needs.”
OakNorth debt finance director Stuart Blair added: “The UK’s advertising market is one of the largest and most established in the world. The sector has continued to grow steadily over the last seven years, being driven by the move from more traditional platforms such as TV and print advertising to online and social.
“MC&C has been in a prime position to take advantage of this trend towards digital through the development of their proprietary data science and insights arms, MUSE. The team is incredibly experienced, has a clear USP in a growing market, and a clear vision for the future. We look forward to working with both them and KCP in the future.”
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