BrazilBDO Germany and UK team up for MediaMonks acquisition
Continuing its expansion, MediaMonks has acquired Staud Studios, a German digital marketing production house dedicated to the automotive industry. The deal was advised on by a cross-border team of BDO.
Founded in 1983, Staud Studios is a digital marketing firm and creative production studio specialised in ‘connected experiences’ in the automotive and mobility industry. According to owners Pascal and Patrick Staud – the sons of company founder René Staud – the firm has since inception “worked for almost every major automotive brand” in the world.
The bolt-on of Staud Studios and its 75 specialists in Stuttgart will significantly bolster the team of MediaMonks in Germany, Europe’s second largest advertising market. Victor Knaap, the CEO of Netherlands-headquartered MediaMonks said: “Their automotive expertise is second to none – going forward Staud Studios will become the global centre of expertise for mobility at MediaMonks.”
Patrick Staud, the Chief Creative Technologist of Staud Studios said: “The possibility to plug in our production pipeline into MediaMonks makes our services truly global and scalable, which is essential to serve our clients on their futures needs.” Clients the two companies serve include Audi, BMW and Mini, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen.
The acquisition comes at a time of major change for the automotive landscape. Alongside key trends such as electrification, Covid-19 rebound, mobility solutions, and robotisation in production, a more tech-driven personalised customer experience ranks as a top priority, with the joining of forces geared at enabling MediaMonks and Staud Studios to provide for a more end-to-end service in this realm.
The deal was supported by dealmakers from others BDO, who put it an international and interdisciplinary team from its UK and Germany offices. The mid-market consultancy advised S4 Capital on the merger – S4 Capital is the private equity group backing MediaMonks.
From Germany, Martin Studier and Bernardo Jose Riedel provided financial due diligence expertise, flanked by their London-based colleagues Conor Lambert and Iona Stevenson. Meanwhile, Brad Payne and Ross Robertson (BDO London) and Henrik Meyer and Daniela Lechler (BDO Frankfurt) provided tax advisory services, spanning tax due diligence and tax structuring.
Last week, MediaMonks also acquired a team from Dutch creative agency The Odd Shop.
