Madison Alley Advises DEFINITION 6 on its Strategic Majority Investment
by Kelso & Company
The summary below includes excerpts from Kelso’s press release.
DEFINITION 6 (“D6”), an Atlanta and New York City-based leading digital customer experience agency, was acquired through a majority investment by funds managed by Kelso & Company (“Kelso”).
D6 is a digital customer experience agency that leverages technology, analytics, and content to create innovative solutions that drive measured and forecasted results for brands. The company partners with clients to build engaging stories that extend brands across an array of applications and customer touchpoints. D6 services its customers through a base of skilled creative and technical employees that pride themselves on producing content at scale and forecasting the specific impact they have on a client’s business through advanced analytics and a willingness to commit to a forecast across touchpoints.
D6 will merge with Emtec, Inc. (“Emtec”), a Kelso portfolio company, to create a global digital consultancy focused on helping clients navigate complex digital transformation journeys. The combined company will offer a significantly expanded suite of digital services combining D6’s digital customer experience offering through its award-winning creative strategy, technical, and storytelling capabilities with Emtec’s complementary expertise in digital product engineering, application development, and analytics services. The organization, with an international presence that spans the U.S., Canada, and India, will be led by Emtec CEO Sunil Misra, with D6 led by Jeff Katz and its existing management team. Both the D6 and Emtec management teams will remain significant investors alongside Kelso in the combined company.
“We are excited to join forces with the D6 team as we seek to execute on our shared vision of becoming a renowned end-to-end digital consultancy,” said Emtec CEO, Sunil Misra. “We are committed to delivering a differentiated value proposition to our clients, and this transaction will provide immediate benefits to our clients as we expand and strengthen our capabilities. We welcome the D6 team and are eager to supplement Emtec’s digital services expertise with D6’s outstanding customer experience, and creative strategy and execution offerings.”
“We have identified ideal partners in Kelso and Emtec, and we look forward to combining our complementary skillsets with Emtec to provide new and innovative solutions to our current and future customers,” said D6 CEO Jeff Katz. “The expanded resources of the broader organization will help us accelerate our growth trajectory and drive continued professional development opportunities for our employees. We are pleased to partner with an organization like Emtec which shares a similar culture and passion for delivering exemplary customer and employee experiences.”
“Emtec and D6 are impressive organizations with strong positions in their markets. The combination represents a compelling opportunity to unite leading technical and creative capabilities to deliver a full-service digital offering that resonates with customers seeking to accelerate their digital aspirations,” said John Castleman, Chairman of the Emtec Board of Directors.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with two outstanding management teams and the talented and highly dedicated employees at Emtec and D6. We look forward to supporting the go-forward organic and inorganic growth initiatives of the combined organization as it continues to augment its capabilities and expand its geographic presence,” added Hank Mannix and Alec Hufnagel, Managing Directors at Kelso.
The D6 acquisition closed in September 2022. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Madison Alley Global Ventures served as the exclusive strategic M&A advisor to DEFINITION 6, and DLA Piper acted as legal advisor.
Tom Crowley, Managing Director of Madison Alley, commented, “It was a great pleasure to work with Jeff and his seasoned leadership team. We’re excited about the strategic combination of D6’s world-class digital customer experience offering of strategy, creative and technology with Emtec’s expertise in digital product engineering, application development and analytics. Together, D6 and Emtec will be a powerhouse global digital consultancy. Congratulations to Kelso, Emtec and D6 on the visionary transaction!”
Robert Pickering, Strategic Operating Partner of Madison Alley, added, “It has been an honor and tremendous experience to advise Jeff and the D6 team on this strategic transaction. We wish them great success on their next phase of accelerated growth.”
Jeff Katz commented, “The Madison Alley team was an invaluable partner at every phase of this process. Their strategic planning and industry relationships led DEFINITION 6 to the realization of diverse opportunities resulting in a perfect outcome with Kelso and Emtec for our shareholders, clients and talented team. Special thanks to Tom Crowley and Robert Pickering for their unique perspectives, teamwork and industry expertise.”
Madison Alley’s Marketing & Technology Services (MTS) deal team included Michael Seidler, Founder + CEO; Robert Pickering, Strategic Operating Partner; Tom Crowley, Managing Director; and Lena Li, Associate.
D6 is an award-winning customer experience agency that has combined strategy, creative, technology, and storytelling for more than 20 years. Based in Atlanta and New York City, with satellite offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco, D6 develops high performing experiences and top campaigns for leading brands such as SAIA, HBO, Paramount+, Nextdoor, Siemens, Barnes & Noble College, and Nickelodeon.
Emtec (emtecinc.com, emtec.digital) is a Global IT consultancy dedicated to helping world class organizations drive transformation and growth by employing the latest enterprise technologies and innovative business processes. The company empowers its clients to accelerate innovation and deliver amazing client experiences to better compete and ultimately lead in their industry. Emtec’s “Client for Life” approach is built upon over 25 years of delivering rapid, meaningful, and lasting business value.
Kelso is one of the oldest and most established firms specializing in private equity investing. Since 1980, Kelso has invested approximately $19 billion of equity capital in 139 transactions. Kelso was founded by the inventor of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and, as a result, the principles of partnership and alignment of interest serve as the foundation of the firm’s investment philosophy. Kelso benefits from a successful investment track record, deep sector expertise, a long-tenured and stable investing team, and a reputation as a preferred partner to management teams and corporate partners. The firm is based in New York, NY.
Nearly 20 years ago, Madison Alley was founded as the world’s first M&A and capital advisory firm exclusively serving the digital marketing, advertising, media and commerce industry.
Led by former global CEOs and strategic Corporate Development executives, Madison Alley provides distinct industry expertise coupled with strategic M&A and investment experience, enabling clients to realize transactions of strategic premium value (SPV).
Notable deals include Deloitte Digital’s strategic acquisition of Heat, establishing the world’s first creative digital consultancy; the merger between Media.Monks (S4 Capital) and TheoremOne, the innovation and engineering consultancy; Omnicom’s acquisition of Jump 450, the data-driven digital performance marketing agency; the merger between Media.Monks (S4 Capital) and Jam3, the award-winning design and experience agency; and Inmar’s strategic acquisition of Aki Technologies, the online retail advertising technology provider.
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