OakNorth completes deal with private-equity backed data analytics media agency

By Bridging Loan Directory 9th July 2018

OakNorth – the bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs – has completed a deal with MC&C, the international performance media consultancy and media buyer backed by Key Capital Partners (KCP).

Founded in 2001, MC&C offers advanced data analytics to its clients, providing media consultancy while also acting as an agent principal on behalf of clients for the purchase of media space across various platforms. Its data and insights arm, MUSE, focuses on unlocking and utilising clients’ customer data to develop highly effective growth strategies spanning beyond media placement and audience segmentation. It was this proprietary technology that last year helped the business attract £6.6m of investment from KCP, enabling it to expand its offering to North America, Europe, Middle East and Asia, starting with an office in NYC.

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 GBP3m to GBP15m and has highly experienced partners who are able to advise the management teams of its portfolio businesses, helping them to realise their expansion ambitions.

Mike Colling, Founder and CEO of MC&C, commented:

“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.”

Stuart Blair, Debt Finance Director at OakNorth, said:

“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.”