RWK Goodman advises digital media company Hybrid on an investment from private equity firm LDC
Our firm advised Hybrid’s shareholders and management team on the deal. The transaction team was led by Partner James Worrall and included Iain Butler, Janetta Barrett and Luke Mitchell (Corporate) together with support from Tim Gofton (Employment) and Dan Pinheiro (Real Estate).
Headquartered in Bristol, Hybrid creates digital outcomes for clients, helping them to engage specialist audiences across the higher education and technology sectors. As a leading digital agency in the higher education market, Hybrid partners with universities to support student recruitment, develop differentiated brands and provide tailored insights and data analytics to drive marketing strategy.
Hybrid has an international client base which includes higher education institutions such as the University of Bristol, Australian National University and Columbia University in New York, in addition to global tech brands such as Autodesk, Cisco and Verizon.
Hybrid provides a full suite of digital marketing services, including campaign development, media planning and buying, content creation and data analytics. The company also owns and operates a number of prominent web brands, including Study International, U2B, Tech HQ and Tech Wire Asia. With offices in Bristol, Kuala Lumpur and Sydney, Hybrid employs more than 70 people worldwide.
LDC, Lloyds Banking Group’s private equity arm, will support Hybrid’s existing management team, led by chief executive Chris Cammann, to broaden its services to clients and pursue its domestic and international growth ambitions. Founder James Craven will continue to support the business and provide strategic advice as board director.
Hybrid chief executive Chris Cammann said: “The partnership with LDC creates an outstanding platform for our team and allows us to pursue a strategy of constant innovation for our clients. We want to keep breaking new ground and take our performance with our tech and higher education partners to the next level.
“The last 12 months has highlighted the importance of digital channels and our work has enabled higher education institutions in particular to continue to drive engagement with their core audiences at a time when student recruitment has never been as important.”
James Craven, Hybrid founder, added: “I am incredibly proud of the people at Hybrid and their work to achieve this milestone. The timing is right to accelerate and scale our growth and continue to evolve our global offering. LDC is an ideal investor to super-charge Hybrid.”
James Worrall said: “We’re delighted to have supported Hybrid’s shareholders and management team on the transaction. This is a major deal which involved a significant amount of work from specialist colleagues across our firm. The investment by LDC provides a brilliant platform for Chris and the wider management team to drive Hybrid forwards.”
LDC was advised by EY (financial and tax advisory), Womble Bond Dickinson (legal), BDO (financial and tax due diligence) and Plural (commercial due diligence).
Hybrid was also advised by Sequence (advisory) and Bishop Fleming (financial and tax).