SYDNEY: The Clemenger Group has sold half its majority stake in Eservices Group to digital DM tech firm Responsys.
The Clemenger Group will retain around 25% of the new combined company, having half sold its share.
Eservices Group, which provides cross-channel marketing services, works with News Digital Media, Vodafone Hutchison, AFL Bigpond, Transurban and FlyBuys. The company will be renamed EservicesResponsys. The Clemenger Group will retain around 25% of the new combined company, having half its share.
Clemenger Group executive chairman, Robert Morgan, told AdNews that Eservices needed a global partner with technical expertise and R&D investment to compliment its customer service focused offering.
“We loved being involved in a new and exciting technology based businesses but we can't expect to be able to do the R&D and product development. To keep Eservices ahead of the game it needed a technology based global partner," he said.
Clemenger invested in Eservices at inception in 1999 and was a majority shareholder. The remaining share was held by Eservices founders Paul and Anthony Cross and Simon O'day.
“Eservices has grown amazingly it has been a phenomenal investment,” Morgan said.
Clemenger has sold down half of its investment and the founders have also sold down their share to give Responsys a majority holding.
Morgan said it was unlikely that Clemenger would reinvest in a similar business.
“The sale of part of our share doesn't mean we have to go back to the table and spend the money. We are more comfortable with creative than content based businesses," he said.
Responsys CEO Dan Springer said the deal will advance the use of digital channels in Australia, and see EservicesResponsys become Responsys’ global service hub for the AsiaPacific region.
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