Adwanted Group receives €15M financing round from Swen Capital Partners and Financière Arbevel to support expansion

NEW YORK, May 6, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The development of the Adwanted Group, founded in 2012, is based on an active strategy of complementary and targeted acquisitions, allowing it to reach critical size more quickly and to create numerous commercial and technological synergies.

Since starting as a transactional solution provider, Adwanted Group has evolved into a leading software provider for the advertising and media industry (media planning, ad intelligence, data, inventory management, news media).

Supported until now by international business angels, Adwanted Group marks a new chapter with the arrival of Financière Arbevel and Swen Capital, which allows it to double in size with the acquisition of Mediatel Limited in the UK.

Mediatel's services and technologies complement Adwanted Group's offering, which is structured around three categories: "Buy Side" (DSP, media planning, events, etc.); "Sell Side" (SSP/booking software, on-air conductor, events, etc.); and "Data", which brings together audience data and the information tools needed to decipher it. The acquisition of Mediatel allows Adwanted to strengthen its international presence and to export its technology and data solutions to the UK, where it was not previously present.

INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING TOWARDS 2024

"Our plan is very clear, and we are aiming for an IPO within 3-4 years in order to achieve our ambition to grow from a regional advertising and media technology provider to a global leader," says Emmanuel Debuyck, the founder and CEO of Adwanted Group.

The advertising software market is highly fragmented, with a few players largely dominating the digital advertising segment; but the 'traditional' market is consolidating and Adwanted Group is determined in playing a central role in this consolidation process.

"We attract and aggregate national champions within the group in a world where standardization is not yet present (unlike digital advertising), even though buyers demand it," says Debuyck. "The same is true for media companies, which must now facilitate access to their traditional inventories to avoid the rush to digital - which is very easy to buy, but whose performance scores are still far from matching those 'traditional' media that are totally reinventing themselves."

"What is interesting is that the more we expand our group, the more we appear as a magnet for independent players in our industry: since the end of last year, no less than 10 companies approached us to join our ecosystem," adds Debuyck.

Swen Capital Partners and Financière Arbevel will help the group further solidify and structure its development, allowing the company to access new markets or execute acquisitions faster. Adwanted Group is looking at strengthening its position in the U.S. and Europe (with Germany being a target).

BECOMING A WORLD LEADER IN ADVERTISING INDUSTRY TECHNOLOGIES

Thanks to this acquisition, Adwanted Group now has a turnover of €20 million and a solid base in France, the United States and the United Kingdom, and intends to consolidate its positions in these regions and in Europe through additional acquisitions.

"Integrating Mediatel within Adwanted Group allows us to pursue our business objective of providing the media industry with a global standard," says Debuyck. "Being in France and the US is obviously a good place to start, but playing on a global stage also requires a strong footprint in the UK before any further expansion. We are now in three of the largest advertising markets in the world."

For more information about Adwanted Group, please visit adwanted-group.com.

TESTIMONIALS:

Loïc Jouan, Managing Director at Financière Arbevel declares: "We are very happy to be able to give Adwanted the means to continue its international expansion. We have been seduced by the management team and a project in line with our convictions: supporting SMEs in their development and growth projects to make them leaders in their sector."

Diego Aponte, Managing Director at SWEN Capital Partners, says: "Adwanted has developed strongly over the past few years in France and internationally. With the acquisition of Mediatel (UK), the group has demonstrated its ambition to become the reference in its market. We are delighted to support Emmanuel and the entire team in this new phase."

Laurent Mouflin, Partner at Pax Corporate Finance, says: "We are delighted to have participated in this very structuring transaction for Adwanted Group and to have brought together management in New York and investors in Paris to enable the acquisition of a target in London."

André Coste, Founder and Managing Partner of Lazare Consulting LLC, says: "We have been advising Adwanted Group on their growth strategy and development since 2016. After the acquisitions of Carthage, CSE and OFFREMEDIA in France, and SRDS in the United States in March 2020, the acquisition of Mediatel allows Adwanted Group to take a strong position in the UK market and should drive synergies between the US, UK and France."

STAKEHOLDERS:

Target Company:
MEDIATEL GROUP, Derek Jones

Company:
ADWANTED GROUP, Emmanuel Debuyck

Investors:
SWEN CAPITAL PARTNERS: Jérôme Delmas, Diego Aponte Vargas, Valentine Fauroux
FINANCIERE ARBEVEL: Thibault Prebay, Ghada Kneisel, Loic Jouan

Target, Corporate Lawyer:
SHERRARDS SOLLICITORS, LONDON: Jean-Paul Dacosta

Investors, Corporate Lawyer:    
FIELDFISHER (Swen): Jean-Baptiste Van De Voorde, Manon Pierre, Sonia Dib
FIELDFISHER UK: Oliver Abel Smith
ARCHERS (Arbevel): Emily Pabot Du Chatelard, Thomas Juillard, Helene Testeil

Investors, DD Tax:
FIELDFISHER: Antoine Gabizon, Cédric Pavao

Investors, Social DD:
FIELDFISHER: Laurence Dumure-Lambert, Orianne Maurin

Investors, DD Contracts:
FIELDFISHER: Anne-Laure-Hélène Des Ylouses, Lauren Mechri

Investors, DD Intellectual Propert:
FIELDFISHER: Nathalie Hadjadj-Cazier, Marina Poudevigne

Investors, DD Financials:
ODERIS CONSULTING: Julien Passerat, Augustin Dupont, Manon Assens

Investors, DD Technical:    
KERISIT CONSULTING: Jean-Marc Kerisit

Company, Investment Bankers:
LAZARE CONSULTING: André Coste, Julie Comer
PAX CORPORATE FINANCE: Laurent Mouflin, Simon Petit, Damien Allard

Company, Corporate Lawyers:
LG AVOCATS (Lille): Liliane Gorczyca
NME LAW (UK): Nigel Jones, Samantha Cozen

Company, DD Legal Acquisition:
NME LAW (UK): Nigel Jones, Samantha Cozen

Company, DD Tax Acquisition:
MOORE & SMALLEY (UK): Colin Abrahams

About Adwanted Group
Adwanted Group, founded in 2012 and operating in Europe, Asia and North America, is an independent and international portfolio of cross-channel media and advertising technology platforms and advertising sales firms. In addition to the Adwanted platform, Adwanted Group operates subsidiaries including Carthage, Affinity Media, Audience Media, Media Opportunities and Access Outdoor. More information is available on Adwanted Group's website, on LinkedIn or by following @AdWantedCom.

About LAZARE CONSULTING
Lazare Consulting is an international growth strategy and M&A boutique firm based in New York City since 2016. Lazare Consulting assists clients in the United States, Europe/UK and Asia in defining and executing their growth strategy. The firm operates in the fields of technology, digital, e-commerce and marketing communication.
http://www.wearelazare.com

About PAX Corporate Finance
Independent investment bank, PAX Corporate Finance combines financial expertise and sector specialization, allowing it to efficiently accompany SMEs and their managers in the different stages of their development. With a team of 20 professionals including 6 partners, the company has completed more than 250 transactions since its creation in 2003.

About SWEN Capital Partners
SWEN Capital Partners is a benchmark player in the field of sustainable private equity investment in Europe; it has over €5.9bn* of assets under management through multi-strategy and direct strategy approaches based on its investment convictions in several asset classes and embedded in the services it offers. The investment firm is owned by the OFI Group, ARKEA and its employees; it has always placed ESG and Climate issues at the very heart of its approach to investment and offers its clients a range of innovative and sustainable investment solutions. SWEN Capital Partners provides support for entrepreneurs and its partners in a process of accompaniment on social, societal and/or environmental issues, which in its view is essential for useful finance.
http://www.swen-cp.fr

About Financière Arbevel
Established in 1997 and acquired by its current managers at the end of 2008, Financière Arbevel is an independent and entrepreneurial investment management company specializing in the small-cap and mid-cap companies in France. With AuM of over 2.2 billion euros, it employs a team of 35 investment professionals and its activity is organized into different businesses: mutual fund management, wealth management, alternative investment management, and institutional investment management. Its management philosophy is centered on financial and strategic analysis as well as a detailed knowledge of the companies in which it invests. In a world where economic growth is subject to more and more uncertainties, Financière Arbevel seeks to identify areas of structural growth likely to create value in the long term. This small-and-mid-cap DNA is at the heart of Financière Arbevel's investment approach and is now applied, in a "Cross Asset" logic, to all its strategies including through private bonds dedicated to non-listed SMEs through its fund "Arbevel Dette Privée SME".

Media Contact

Mike Neerhof, SRDS, +1 (847) 801-9751, [email protected]

Gabrielle Oddone, Adwanted Group, +33 (0)1 53 89 50 00, [email protected]

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SOURCE Adwanted Group