• by Joe Mandese , October 7, 2014

In what may be the first significant acquisition of a major content marketing firm by an agency holding company, New York-based CHR Group has acquired Studio One, one of, if not the pioneer in the field of digital content marketing services.

Terms were not disclosed, but the companies said Studio One will continue to operate under the helm of founder and President Andrew Susman, and its entire staff will remain intact, relocating to CHR's corporate headquarters.

Founded in 1998 by Susman and former NBC sales chief Bob Blackmore, Studio One has been producing and distributing digital content on behalf of major brands including Procter and Gamble, US Cellular, Intel, Kellogg’s, Toyota USA and Nestle USA. The company claims to a roster of more than 2,200 publishers distributing its content, and giving it a "global reach equivalent to CNN's."

CHR said the deal is its 15th acquisition since it was founded in 2012.

“Since the company required only one round of financing and operated without debt, the deal was uniquely advantageous to all parties,” Mark Pinney, an independent board director of Studio One, said in a statement announcing the deal.