Case study:
Strategic PR to Position for Exit

In FinTech

Challenge

To deliver real value, the end goal of all PR should be to support an organisation in meeting its core business objectives. A good proportion of CCgroup’s clients start off as privately held, innovative organisations with a niche or disruptive offering – the primary business objective is usually to generate investment funding or be acquired.

CCgroup is driven by our clients’ commercial objectives . We’re an ambitious PR agency, and keen to demonstrate the value that our clients bring to the broader industry. Whether they have a specific technology or unique industry insight, our commitment to our clients’ success helps drive recognition amongst potential investors or acquirers.

Creative

The success of our campaigns is rarely measured solely on the amount of press briefings and media coverage they generate. Instead, we ensure that the right audiences see the appropriate messages through accurate positioning of our clients.

Investors or acquirers look for “value”. While value is defined in many ways by different groups, it often relates to a company’s intellectual property, existing and potential customer base, leadership and “uniqueness” in a crowded market.

CCgroup works hard with our clients to identify unique points of differentiation that help them stand out, and work just as hard to develop the messages, content and campaigns that communicate that differentiation to the market. Great examples of this can be seen in case studies for Arieso, Fundamo , and WDS , all of which have been acquired in the last two years. This differentiation is critical to communicating an organisation’s “value” to potential suitors.

Results

CCgroup understands what it takes to help an organisation position itself for acquisition; Over the last three years (2010 to 2013), CCgroup has supported the market exit of ten clients. The accumulated level of investment runs into billions of dollars, and our client acquisition and investment timeline reads as follows:

• Aug 2010 – IMImobile acquires WIN Plc.
• Jan 2011 – The Carlyle Group buys Syniverse Technologies
• May 2011 – Radisys acquires Continuous Computing
• Jun 2011 – Visa acquires Fundamo
• May 2012 – NetCracker acquires Convergys
• Jul 2012 – Xerox acquires WDS
• Feb 2013 – Opera acquires Skyfire
• Mar 2013 – JDSU acquires Arieso
• Oct 2013 – Marlin Equity Partners acquires Tellabs
• Dec 2013 – TEOCO Corporation acquires AIRCOM International

All of these organisations recognise the value that PR has brought in positioning them for investment and exit.