Marketing, Advertising, Martech
and Event Marketing Businesses
Region: Australia and New Zealand
Enterprise Value: A$3m - A$30m
Opportunity Overview
Blue Harbour Capital is working with strategic investors and experienced marketing industry executives who are seeking to partner with a marketing, advertising, martech or event marketing business on an employee led or management led buyout.
This opportunity is ideal for a founder who wants to exit or step back, while enabling the existing management team and key employees to become the majority owners, under the model described in the introduction above.
Opportunity Snapshot
Sectors of interest
- Brand, creative and integrated marketing agencies
- Digital and performance marketing agencies
- Martech and marketing automation platforms or service providers
- Event marketing, experiential and live activation businesses
- Complementary marketing services with strong client relationships
Geography
- Australia or New Zealand
- Single-market or trans-Tasman operations
Scale and performance
- Enterprise value between A$3m and A$30m
- At least 3 years of stable or growing revenues
- Profitability with clear visibility on cash flows
- Solid, recurring or repeat customer base
Ownership and management
- Founder or privately held business
- Well-regarded management team already running day-to-day operations
- Owner interested in selling to the management team and key employees, rather than a traditional trade buyer
We are seeking a business that broadly fits the following:
Business fundamentals
- Clear positioning in marketing, advertising, digital, martech or event marketing
- Revenue mix that includes retainers, ongoing contracts or repeat project work
- Diversified client base with limited reliance on any single client
- Established brand and strong delivery reputation in its niche
- Systems and processes that support consistent service delivery and scale
Team and leadership
- Credible management team already handling operations, clients and people
- Depth of talent below the founder, including account, strategy and delivery leads
- Appetite among key managers to step into ownership and board roles
- Openness to strengthening the team where needed (for example, CFO, COO, growth or commercial leadership), with support from our investor and executive partners
Performance and growth
- 3 or more years of stable or growing revenue and EBITDA
- A pipeline of growth opportunities such as:
- Cross-selling across service offerings
- Expansion into new sectors or geographies
- Productised services or tech-enabled marketing solutions
- Strategic bolt-on acquisitions
Ideal Founder Profile
This mandate is particularly suited to a founder or owner who:
- Wants a planned, de-risked succession rather than a rushed sale
- Cares about their people, clients and culture and wants the business to remain independent
- Sees the management team as the natural next generation of owners, but knows they lack the personal capital to fund a buyout alone
- Is open to:
- Selling a controlling or full stake to a management and employee-led structure
- A phased reduction in involvement, such as an advisory or chair role for a defined period if desired
Under this mandate:
- Strategic investors and industry executives with deep agency and marketing experience will:
- Co-invest alongside the team
- Sit on the board or advisory board
- Provide input on positioning, pricing, service mix and growth strategy
- Blue Harbour Capital will:
- Structure and coordinate the buyout
- Arrange and align financing between lenders, investors and vendor terms
- Provide post-transaction coaching and a 100 day plan so the new owners have clarity, rhythm and support from day one
We can also help identify and fill any critical gaps in the leadership team to ensure the next generation of owners is fully equipped.
Is This Opportunity a Fit for Your Agency?
You may be a strong fit for this mandate if:
- You own a marketing, advertising, martech or event marketing business in Australia or New Zealand
- Your business falls in the A$3m – A$30m enterprise value range
- Revenue has been stable or growing over the last 3 years
- You have a solid management team in place that could lead the business without you day to day
- You are open to an management or employee-led buyout where your team becomes the majority owner, with investor support
- Your priorities include:
- Fair value and certainty for you as founder
- Continuity for staff and clients
- Empowerment and retention of your key people
If you are a member of a management team and believe your agency fits this profile, we also invite you to make contact confidentially.
Next Step
If this opportunity sounds relevant to your business, the next step is to complete our short, confidential online form. It should take only a few minutes and gives us enough information to understand whether the mandate is likely to be a good fit for you and your team.
We do not ask you to upload financial statements at this stage. The aim is to keep the process low friction while giving both sides enough context to decide whether a confidential conversation makes sense.
Once we receive your profile, we will contact you to schedule a confidential discussion about how a management or employee led buyout with Blue Harbour Capital and our investor partners could work in your situation.