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Next 15 Acquires Digital Transformation Consultancy Engine Group

Growth consultancy Next Fifteen Communications Group (Next 15) of London has acquired digital transformation specialist Engine Group of London and Manchester, United Kingdom. The deal's enterprise value was £77.5 million (roughly US$102 million).

Moreover, this is technology M&A deal number 246 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2022. See more than 1,000 technology M&A deals involving MSPs, MSSPs & IT service providers listed here.

Next 15 Acquires Engine Group: Key Services

Engine has roughly 600 team members and 300 customers, the buyer indicated. Engine’s business is comprised of three divisions:

  1. Communications services for corporate strategy, and positioning in the financial, healthcare and consumer markets.
  2. Creative provides digital brand experiences, integrated online and offline advertising and influencer marketing.
  3. Transformation offers technology and digital transformation consulting that combines strategy, data and technology.

The M&A includes the following executive roles, the buyer said:

  • Emma Robertson and Alex Bigg will continue to lead Engine Transformation and MHP Mischief, respectively.
  • Phil Fearnley will become the new CEO for the combination of Engine Creative and ODD (the existing Next 15 creative agency focused on fashion, retail and lifestyle brands).

Next 15 Buys Engine Group: Executive Perspectives

In a prepared statement about the acquisition, Next 15 CEO Tim Dyson said:

“We are delighted to welcome the people and clients of Engine to Next 15. Acquiring this broad-based digital transformation, communications and creative business fits well with our track record and strategy of adding growth businesses which then contribute to our target of doubling the size of our business in the next three to five years. Its three businesses are home to great talent and strong client relationships and provide multiple opportunities to expand and further apply our growth consultancy services.

We look forward to working with the management teams, staff and clients of the three businesses at Engine and other industry leaders within Next 15 to execute our growth plan built on our model of independence, incentives and investment.”

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.