Mercury Media and Advanced Results Marketing (ARM), two of the pioneers in direct response media, announced a merger on Wednesday, April 11, to create the nation’s largest independent direct response media agency with gross billings in excess of $350 million. The two companies will merge under a newly formed holding company, Mercury Media Holdings (MMH), to provide advertisers access to direct response television media as an economic and measurable alternative to traditional advertising.
Mercury Media, located on Broadway in Santa Monica, was established in 1989 and now leads the industry in media-buying for long-form advertising. It provides marketing management and real-time sales analysis to a variety of companies including Guthy Renker, Beach Body, Modern Media, Boardroom and Cuisinart. www.mercurymedia.com. ARM, specializing in short-form commercials, is a full-service advertising agency, providing a variety of services such as TV spot-creation, media planning and buying, customer-service and fulfillment, and has created campaigns for brands like the One Touch Can Opener, Carvel and VEGAS.com. www.armdr.com.
“As general advertisers across the board question the value of their existing advertising budgets, we offer the most comprehensive alternative media solution, providing measurable, data-driven results,” said Steve Nober, the newly appointed CEO of MMH. “With our direct response roots and traditional media research and capabilities, we will be able to introduce traditional advertisers to the benefits of direct response advertising.”
Mercury founders Dan Danielson and John Cabrinha are co-Chairmen of Mercury Media Holdings and Steve Nober of Mercury is now the CEO of MMH. The long-form, short-form and traditional media divisions will continue to operate independently in existing locations in California, Massachusetts, and Arizona. Danielson and Cabrinha will continue to run Mercury Media, and Beth Vendice will continue to serve as Divisional President of ARM.
“The merger of Mercury and ARM creates a fully-integrated solution that will attract even more marquee clients and mainstream attention to direct response advertising, and validates its importance to a range of advertisers and brands,” said Beth Vendice, Divisional President of ARM. “With our combined capabilities, media planning and buying power and strong media relationships, we are able to deliver additional value-added services to our combined client base.”
A team from Petsky Prunier LLC, led by Sanjay Chadda, served as exclusive financial advisors to ARM and initiated, structured and negotiated the transaction on behalf of ARM’s shareholders. Eos Partners, a New York-based private equity firm with over $2 billion under management, provided equity and arranged debt financing in support of the transaction.
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