Ebiquity acquires competitors Media Path and Media Management

Media management consultancy Ebiquity has absorbed Media Path in a conditional agreement and Media Management in a definitive agreement. Both businesses are expected to rebrand as Ebiquity by the end of April. The acquisitions tie into Ebiquity’s goals to become a “fully integrated world leader” in media-investment analysis, while eliminating waste and creating value for its clients. 

Media Path, led by founder and executive chairman Susanne Elias, has a team of 45 across 12 markets. Elias will join Ebiquity’s executive leadership team as chief business integration officer and will be tasked to integrate both businesses across all teams and services together with existing and new colleagues and clients. George Patten, who joined Media Path as global CEO in late 2020, departed the role in April last year after six months of service.

“Using technology for innovation and delivery of our services to our clients has been a key driver for us and that, now combined with Ebiquity’s global reach, broad service offerings as well as highly skilled team of media specialists, [will create] stellar opportunities for our combined businesses, clients and teams all over the world,” Elias said in a statement.

Media Management is a US-focused media audit services firm with 40 staff across the US, led by Thomas Bridge. Bridge will join the North America leadership team as president while Paul Williamson is promoted to managing director, Ebiquity Americas.

Bridge said in a statement: “MMi is excited to join the Ebiquity family, expanding our coverage domestically and internationally for our clients. This step further reinforces MMi’s commitment to our team and our clients in continuing our work in driving third-party media accountability.”

Nick Waters, global CEO at Ebiquity, said that this is a “major milestone” for the company. “MediaPath and MMi are both highly respected companies operating in our space. Susanne and Thomas share our values and our vision for what the media industry can be and how we can serve it,” he added.

Leela Nair, APAC managing director at Ebiquity, told Campaign Asia-Pacific that the automated systems that come with the MediaPath acquisition will “enable faster and better, fact-based decision making during the agency selection process”.

Based on earnings released yesterday, Ebiquity documented a 2021 pretax loss of £5.7 million (US$7.48 million). These results, coupled with news of the acquisitions, rattled investors as its shares fluctuated yesterday.