Flipp and MEDIA Central Complete Transaction to Create Global Leader in Drive-to-Store Marketing

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Nov 11, 2024, 08:00 ET

TORONTO, Nov. 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Flipp Operations Inc. ("Flipp") and MEDIA Central Group ("MEDIA Central") announced, effective November 5, the successful completion of their previously announced merger. The landmark transaction creates the global leader in drive-to-store marketing, serving thousands of blue chip retailers and brands across 27 markets and reaching over 400 million households.

Effective immediately, the combined company will operate under a new Group Management Board led by Michael Silverman as Group CEO, alongside Stefano Portu as Group President & COO, Jaclyn Welsh as Group CFO, and Ingo Wienand as CEO of MEDIA Central Classic. The company's Management Board will guide its global direction and foster synergies while its three powerhouse units — Flipp, MEDIA Central Digital, and MEDIA Central Classic — will each continue serving their respective markets under their existing brands.

"The successful completion of this transaction marks the start of an exciting new chapter for both companies," said Michael Silverman, Group CEO and CEO of Flipp. "The new Management Board is deeply focused on building a long-standing, global leader in drive-to-store marketing. With complementary strengths across our continents, we're uniquely positioned to help retailers and brands transform their promotional and trade marketing strategies while delivering exceptional value to shoppers."

Stefano Portu, who assumes the role of Group President & COO while continuing as CEO of MEDIA Central Digital, stated: "By combining our technology and market expertise, we're creating unprecedented opportunities to innovate in the retail marketing space. Our focus now is on leveraging and integrating our expanded capabilities to create a global platform and deliver even greater value to our customers."

"This merger brings together two organizations with deep and nuanced understanding of local retail markets," added Ingo Wienand, CEO of MEDIA Central Classic. "As shopper behaviors continue to evolve, our strong regional presence and our combined scale will allow us to continue delivering the local excellence our clients expect."

The new ownership structure is spearheaded by Truelink Capital, with Insight Ventures, Bregal Unternehmerkapital, and Highland Europe as key partners. Debt financing for this transaction was secured through Royal Bank of Canada. Legal and financial advisory partners included Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, Baker McKenzie, Stifel, Paul Hastings LLP, and Houlihan Lokey.

About Flipp
Founded in 2007, Flipp is a technology platform that is reinventing the way people plan their weekly shopping trips. The largest retailers and brands in North America use the Flipp Platform to create, curate and distribute digital visual merchandising experiences and savings content to over 100 million high intent shoppers. Households use Flipp as their primary weekly shopping tool to decide what to buy and where to buy. On average, Flipp helps shoppers save $45 on their weekly groceries, home improvement goods, electronics, pharmacy, apparel, pets supplies and more. For more information, visit corp.flipp.com.

About MEDIA Central
The MEDIA Central Group is a European market leader in drive-to-store marketing solutions. The Group unites the leading specialist for data-based 360° offer communication, MEDIA Central, Europe's leading drive-to-store technology platform, ShopFully, together with the experts for digital offer communication, Offerista Group, and the data science experts for the moment of purchase decision, Yagora. It is represented by over 900 employees in 21 locations across Europe, Australia, and Latin America, and currently serves top retailers and brands in 24 countries from all industries.

About Truelink Capital
Truelink Capital is a middle-market private equity firm based in Los Angeles. Truelink pairs deep industry experience in the industrials and technology-enabled services sectors with a commitment to building partnerships that drive long-term value through an operationally focused strategy. Truelink partners with management, corporate sellers, and founders to accelerate growth through the execution of strategic initiatives and transformative add-on acquisitions.

About Bregal Unternehmerkapital
Bregal Unternehmerkapital ("BU") is a leading investment firm with offices in Zug, Munich, and Milan. With €7.0bn in capital raised to date, BU is the largest mid-cap investor headquartered in the DACH region. The funds advised by BU invest in mid-sized companies based in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Austria. With the mission to be the partner of choice for entrepreneurs and family-owned businesses, BU seeks to partner with market leaders and "hidden champions" with strong management teams and breakout potential. Since its founding in 2015, the funds advised by BU have invested over €3.5 billion in more than 100 companies with more than 28,000 employees. Thereby, more than 8,200 jobs have been created. BU supports entrepreneurs and families as a strategic partner to develop, internationalize, and digitize their businesses, while helping them generate sustainable value on a responsible basis with the next generation in mind. For more information, please visit http://www.bregal.ch/ or follow us on LinkedIn.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Gaby Hui (Flipp)[email protected]

Selin Castaldo (MEDIA Central Classic)[email protected]

Laura Sassi (MEDIA Central Digital)[email protected]

SOURCE Truelink Capital