Hispanic-Owned Marketing and Ad Agency 9thWonder Lands Strategic Investment from PR & IR Firm Lambert & Co. and Diverse Fund Manager to Fuel Growth, Continued M&A
HOUSTON, Dec. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A trio of market leaders spanning capital markets, communications and marketing services today announced an innovative joint venture and co-investment aimed at building the integrated marketing agency model of the future.
Houston-based 9thWonder, a leading brand strategy, advertising and multicultural marketing agency, closed on a multi-million-dollar joint investment led by Monika Mantilla and Altura Capital Economic Opportunity Zone Fund, a Miami-based fund manager and strategic investor with expertise in diverse companies and communities, and Lambert & Co., a national public relations and investor relations agency. The capital infusion aims to accelerate the growth of 9thWonder, deepen its communications, PR and diverse market reach, and fund future acquisitions in the U.S. and internationally.
"Our focus over the past two years has been to acquire and integrate a collection of complementary agencies, but always with an eye toward a bigger vision of a new business-impact-centric agency model with partners invested in one another and with a shared focus on marketing and communications that deliver to the bottom line," said Jose Lozano, CEO of 9thWonder. "We found this like-mindedness and similar track record of success in Lambert, and together we can bring best-in-class expertise to our client rosters, and new scale and significance for our teams."
9thWonder is among the nation's leading marketing and brand strategy firms with offices in Houston, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Argentina and Vietnam, a team of more than 180 professionals, and practices in consumer, food & beverage, sports & entertainment, B2B and consumer X, its Hispanic and multicultural marketing unit. Additionally, within Lambert's family of companies is Black and woman-owned diversity, equity and inclusion consulting and diverse board development firm, EQUALSIGN, who will join with 9th Wonder's Consumer X team to offer a full-spectrum of multicultural marketing and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) expertise.
As part of the agreement, Jeff Lambert will join the 9thWonder board. Other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"We are excited to invest in 9thWonder as part of the growing Lambert Family of Companies and believe this unique agency partnership and co-investment model will be another catalyst in our accelerating growth," said Jeff Lambert, founder and CEO of Lambert. "Jose and the 9thWonder team are a perfect complement to our offerings in PR, investor relations, crisis communications and diversity consulting; their office network is a hand-glove fit with our regional hubs in Michigan, Arizona and New York, and we both have an active M&A strategy that we believe will be compelling to owner entrepreneurs looking for an alternative to the agency networks."
Joining Lambert in the deal is an investor group led by Monika Mantilla, a fund manager and capital markets leader with a proven track record of investing in minority, women-led and diverse-owned companies as well as owners and entrepreneurs located in low or moderate-income (LMI) communities.
"We see tremendous potential with the 9thWonder team and their proven multi-market platform and felt the time was right to accelerate their growth with our strategic capital and connections," said Mantilla. "Our commitment to underrepresented entrepreneurs and companies, coupled with a shared alignment as Hispanic founders and leaders with complementary national platforms, make this a tremendous opportunity."
About 9thWonder
9thWonder is an independent marketing agency built for business impact. The agency brings together diverse thinkers and specialties from across seven offices (Houston, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Buenos Aires, Argentina and Nha Trang, Vietnam) to identify hidden opportunities, generate marketplace results and develop lasting advantages for clients. 9thWonder is also a global partner in MAGNET, one of the world's leading partnerships of advertising and creative agencies spanning six continents and annual capitalized billings of $2 billion.
About Lambert
Lambert & Co. is a national, award-winning public relations, investor relations and integrated marketing firm with clients based in 20 states and 6 countries. Lambert is a top-50 PR agency in the U.S. and a top-10 financial and investor relations firm nationally. Lambert has earned Firm of the Year honors from PR Week and PRNews, been recognized as a top-5 private equity communications agency by The Deal, and is the reigning winner of the Sabre Crisis Campaign of the Year. Lambert is a founding partner in TiiCKER, a consumer shareholder marketing and perks platform; EQUALSIGN, a DEI consulting and diverse board development firm; and a global partner in PROI Worldwide, the largest partnership of independent PR firms in the world spanning 120 cities on five continents.
Contact: Cierra Mangal, [email protected], (313) 309-9512
SOURCE Lambert & Co.
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