Digital marketing communications group Next Fifteen Communications (LON:NFC) has snapped up CMG Worldwide Limited, trading as Bourne, a global, full-service digital agency with offices in Glasgow, London and New York. Bourne is the latest investment by Next Fifteen in the digital marketing arena. Last year it acquired Type 3 to create Beyond, its first pure digital agency. It also acquired OneXeno in Hong Kong to extend its Bite agency’s capabilities. Bite also recently acquired a small web build and hosting firm, ILS, also based in Hong Kong.

Bourne provides high value, strategic planning services across all digital channels. It is headquartered in Glasgow and has clients that include: Dell, Ricoh, Lumesse and Symantec. News of the deal pushed the Next Fifteen share price up by 1.5p to 84.5p.

Tim Dyson, the CEO of Next Fifteen, said: “All Next Fifteen’s agencies are focused on delivering world class digital strategies and campaigns. Bourne significantly extends our digital marketing capabilities, enabling us to expand the services we sell to our current clients. Marketing directors are rapidly shifting spend from areas such as traditional advertising and direct mail to digital channels. Through the services that Bourne offers – ranging from strategic planning and creative services through to content development, optimisation and demand generation – we have an opportunity to benefit from this transition.”

The deal gives Next Fifteen an 80% shareholding in Bourne, a business with £2.5m of revenue in calendar 2010 delivering adjusted profits before interest and tax of £750,000. The initial consideration for the share purchase is £1.95m satisfied in cash with further payments, at multiples of PBIT ranging between 5 and 7, dependent on the PBIT and margin levels achieved by Bourne over the period to 31 July 2014. There will be an interim cash payment made in October 2012 and a final payment in October 2014, satisfied by a mixture of cash and shares in Next Fifteen at the company’s discretion. The remaining 20% holding in Bourne is the subject of put and call options and it is anticipated that these shares will be acquired by October 2018.

Dan Kersh, the CEO of Bourne, said: “We began our business with a clear focus on delivering digital strategies and campaigns on a global basis. Underpinning this was the fundamental importance of developing fully integrated digital content and social…

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