Global investment firm, Carlyle, has taken a majority stake in marketing agency, Incubata.
The company, which has offices around the world, has its UK bases in Manchester and London.
Carlyle, which acquired Dept in 2019, said the terms of the deal were not being disclosed, and that the move was subject to regulatory approvals.
Incubeta employs more than 800 staff and is a certified Google Marketing Platform (GMP) partner. Its client list includes Hyundai, Heineken, M&S and L’Oréal.
“We are very proud of the significant growth that Incubeta has achieved, having completed five acquisitions over the past two years and becoming a key partner in the Google ecosystem,” said Lars Lehne, CEO of Incubeta.
“We strongly believe Carlyle is the perfect partner as we take the next step in our growth journey, given its global presence, deep understanding of our sector, and extensive experience in scaling technology and marketing services businesses.”
It will become part of the Carlyle Europe Technology Partners (“CETP”) platform – a vehicle to support the acceleration of its international growth through development of its current services and acquisitions. This is the same path used by Dept, which has undertaken numerous acquisitions since 2019.
“Incubeta has all the hallmarks we look for in our investments – exposure to a market benefiting from strong tailwinds, partnership with an experienced and driven management team, and multiple levers for growth, including international expansion and service line extension,” explained Andrew Tan, Director in the CETP investment advisory team.
“We look forward to partnering with Incubeta’s management team under the leadership of CEO Lars Lehne to help accelerate the next phase of the company’s growth as it seeks to become the leading global partner of choice in the fast-growing GMP ecosystem.”
