Equistone-backed PIA buys Nordpol+

Managing partners and former owners Lars Rühmann and Manfred Schüller will remain in their roles, as will the rest of the management team, according to a statement.

Equistone acquired Hamburg-based Performance Interactive Alliance in March 2014, integrating Performance Media, Econda, Blue Summit and Delasocial. Ares provided a €45m unitranche debt to support the deal. Equistone deployed from Equistone Partners Europe Fund IV, which held a final close in January 2015 on €1.5bn. The fund was fully deployed as of September 2018.

Unquote sister publication Mergermarket reported in March 2014 that the company would be seeking add-on acquisitions and was valued at $300m. The companies integrated under PIA had combined revenues of $200m at the time.

PIA acquired Dymatrix in August 2014. The company bought UDG United Digital from EQT in January 2019, following EQT's investment in UDG in 2011.

Equistone declined to comment.

Company
Nordpol+ is a Germany-based advertising agency. It was founded in 1998. Its client base includes Renault, Daimler and Lufthansa. It is headquartered in Hamburg and has 40 employees.

People
PIA – Christian Tiedemann (CEO).
Nordpol+ – Lars Rühmann, Manfred Schüller (managing directors).

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