Equistone’s PIA bolts on SoQuero

Equistone stated it continues to look for suitable companies to continue PIA's expansion.

The SoQuero management team of Björn Emerity and Tobias Jungcurt will remain at the helm in the company's Frankfurt headquarters.

Previous funding
In March 2014, Equistone acquired a majority stake in newco PIA. The four businesses Performance Media, Blue Summit Media, Econda and Delasocial were incorporated under the PIA banner but continue to operate individually.

Equistone's investment was earmarked for both organic and acquisitive growth. Turnover across the companies was around €140m in 2013.

PIA acquired Stuttgart-based Dymatrix Consulting Group in August this year to add a fifth company to the umbrella group. The company's headquarters and management team would remain in place following the purchase.

Company
Founded in 2004, SoQuero is an online marketing agency focusing on search engine optimisation (SEO) and social media, as well as product data marketing. It manages online campaigns in 40 countries and in more than 20 different languages via its Feed Dynamix technology, using the search engines Google, Yahoo and MSN/Bing among others. Its 60 clients include Best Western Hotels, Street One and the Stuttgarter Zeitung. It employs 50 people.

Acquired by PIA in April 2014, Blue Summit focuses on SEO, search engine advertising and affiliate marketing. Its clients, from the retail, travel, finance, automotive, media and entertainment industries, include Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa and Handelsblatt among others. It has 115 employees in Munich, Hamburg and Vienna.

PIA is headquartered in Hamburg with additional offices in Munich, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe. It also has a software development site in Belgrade. The business has approximately 450 employees and the same number of clients.

People
Sebastian Sommerer is founder and managing director of Blue Summit and is a member of the PIA management team. Björn Emeritzy is managing director of SoQuero.

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