• by Larissa Faw , October 16, 2015

Customer engagement shop Ansira Partners is acquiring digital shop SQ1 in order to provide a fuller suite of services for clients. Each agency offers expertise that the other lacks. Ansira specializes in data analytics, campaign management, strategic planning, digital, web development, media/search, creative, trade promotion and experiential marketing. Meanwhile SQ1's expertise focuses in conversion through programmatic media, digital and TV.

Transaction is valued between $50-$60 million. Upon close, Ansira’s combined annual revenue will total roughly $125 million.

"Big data and insights are at the core of each of these entities," says Martin Reidy, Ansira’s president and chief executive officer. "Ansira primarily uses these insights in developing customer acquisition strategies and building out optimized CRM programs." He adds, "SQ1 is obsessed with data and is driven to increase customer conversions that will drive sales and profits. Their focus is primarily in media, including digital, search and television.

"They are pioneers in programmatic buying, so they can take a laser focused approach to executing on their media strategies. By combining what we have built up from a CRM perspective and the related customer analytics, with SQ1’s customer experience and knowledge in media, we will be able to offer unprecedented strategies and platforms for our clients that will drive enormous financial and market share results.”        

SQ1 will become Ansira after a short transition period and will continue to operate its four locations, Dallas, Portland, Houston and Newport Beach, CA. Ansira has offices in 11 cities, including Dallas, but executives plan to continue to operate its Dallas business out of both the existing Ansira office in Addison and the downtown SQ1 office. "We are working on the post-acquisition organizational structure for the combined agency, but we need to spend more time learning about the SQ1 teams, tools and client needs before making any decisions," say Ansira executives. 

Although SQ1 was exclusively represented by investment banking firm Petsky Prunier Securities in this transaction, the agency wasn't on the market, say Ansira executives. Instead, Ansira approached SQ1 about a deal because it was looking to expand its presence on the media side.