Livedoor Japan sells 360i, SearchIgnite
Interactive marketing services firm Innovation Interactive, owner of agencies such as 360i and SearchIgnite, has completed a management-led buyout from its troubled parent company, Livedoor Japan.
Innovation Interactive's management team and employees, backed by ABS Capital Partners, funded the buyout. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"We are capitalizing on the shift of media dollars online to finally follow the eyeballs," said Will Margiloff, CEO of Innovation Interactive, New York. "Search is going to continue to grow in importance as a marketing vehicle with auctions as a dominant pricing optimization vehicle for a large portion of all forms of digital media.
"Today, current agencies do not have the technology, training, entrepreneurial culture or compensation systems to compete effectively in this environment," Mr. Margiloff said. "That's what we've been bringing to the table for clients like NBC Universal, MTV Networks, H&R Block, Saks and agencies like Digitas, Optimedia, Beyond Interactive and more, and now we can extend the offerings even further."
Innovation Interactive has 170 employees in New York, Atlanta and Chicago.
"The M&A activity surrounding our industry showcases the value for our company," Mr. Margiloff said.
"With Google-Click, Yahoo-Right Media and Microsoft-aQuantive the landscape gets even more complicated and yet it clearly shows our value as search-centric digital marketing specialists to help our clients navigate this ever-changing digital media ecosystem," he said.
