Clearwater has advised Waterland Private Equity (Waterland) on raising debt facilities from ThinCats to support its majority investment in Markettiers4DC (M4DC), a London-headquartered network of tech-enabled, data-driven, broadcast activated, strategic communications agencies.
Founded by CEO Howard Kosky in 1994, M4DC works with large national and international corporations including Rolls-Royce, Linkedin and Unilever. Today, the business employs a team of 150 people in the UK and UAE, providing services across its three key pillars of strategic communications: data and insight, broadcast and virtual/hybrid events.
M4DC aims to become a global leader in evidence-driven communications. This partnership with Waterland will support M4DC’s vision by accelerating investment in services that deliver meaningful and measurable impact to its clients, and by helping retain and attract the best people in the industry. M4DC also has international growth ambitions, predominantly focussing on entry to the North American market.
M4DC operates in the global communications market worth €78m (£69bn), growing at 7-10% per annum. This is driven by an increasingly complex and fragmented media landscape, but also growing demand from clients for more data-led communications strategies to deliver improved effectiveness. Through M4DC’s market-leading services and reputation for flawless operational delivery, the business has enjoyed 30% year-on-year revenue growth over the recent period.
With Waterland’s support, the business aims to expand internationally through an active buy and build programme. Waterland has deep experience in the marketing and communications industries from its recent and current partnerships in Dept, Intracto, Sideshow Group and Farner Consulting. Over the investment period, M4DC’s buy and build strategy is focussed on acquiring complementary communications businesses, helping the group build expertise, new capabilities and geographical coverage. Follow-on funding is available to the business to support these plans.
