LDC mandates Houlihan Lokey for MSQ Partners exit

The company is expected to be marketed off annual EBITDA in the region of GBP 10m-GBP 20m, according to both sources and a third source familiar. Houlihan Lokey has not yet launched a formal auction of MSQ, one of the sources pointed out.

In the year ended 28 February 2021, MSQ booked a loss of GBP 2.7m, which narrowed from a GBP 3.9m loss recorded a year prior, filings with Companies House show. Revenue for MSQ’s 2021 financial year totalled GBP 91.5m, up from GBP 65.8m generated in the 12 months prior, the same filings show. Interest expenses in 2021 increased to GBP 5m from GBP 3.6m, in part due to additional borrowings used to finance the firm’s GBP 20.6m acquisition of Be Heard, a UK-based peer.

MSQ is a multi-disciplinary group of digital, creative, branding and PR agencies that specialise in marketing communications for consumer and B2B brands, as well as the public sector. The group, which includes Holmes & Marchant (branding & design), Smarts Communicate (PR and content), Stack (customer activation and engagement), Stein IAS (B2B marketing), The Gate (creative and media) and twentysix (digital) has more than 600 employees across 15 offices in the UK, the US and Asia.

Houlihan Lokey declined to comment. LDC did not respond to a request for comment.

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