ECI Partners Uses a $100.7M OakNorth Loan to Purchase the Majority of a Global Digital Marketing Company

After receiving a $100.7 million club loan from OakNorth, the private equity firm ECI Partners has purchased the majority of a worldwide full-service digital marketing business with over 500 employees and a Shropshire office.   

Since its founding in 2011 by former Google employee Luke Smith and former Harvest Digital search chief Ben Knight, Croud has expanded to become a prominent digital marketing agency with locations in London, Shrewsbury, New York, Atlanta, and Dubai. In 2019, LDC provided private equity support for the company.

Croud will be able to develop through other acquisitions and organic expansion thanks to the club loan deal, which will assist in funding ECI Partners acquisition 75% ownership in the company.

Smith expressed gratitude to David Andrews and the LDC team for being a helpful and influential partner during the last five years. He added that they had achieved great success and scale with their assistance while still doing excellent work for their clients and offering their employees amazing chances. For the next stage of Croud's development, they are thrilled to be working with ECI, preserving their independence while leveraging innovation and new prospects.

The company has outperformed the market because to its Croudie strategy, which guarantees speed, scale, and effective delivery for customers, said Rory Nath, investment director at ECI. Alongside Luke Smith and Ben Knight, whose enthusiasm, commitment, and tenacity will motivate the team to realize their ambitious goal, they look forward to further investing in both people and technology.

For the deal, OakNorth collaborated with Barclays, Investec, and HSBC.

It's not surprising that Croud has gained the support of such a model investor in ECI, according to Stuart Blair, director of debt finance at OakNorth. Croud is a great company that is beating the odds in a market where many of its competitors are having trouble keeping margins and retaining customers.