Ramarketing is receiving an investment boost from private equity firm NorthEdge, the biopharma marketing shop said Wednesday.
The U.K.-headquartered Ramarketing, which employs about 50 people spread among offices in England and Boston, will use the money to expand its U.S. footprint. Terms of the deal, characterized as a management buyout on NorthEdge’s site, were not disclosed.
“We are evolving into the type of next-generation growth partner that our clients will need in the future: Data-driven, embedded in industry and truly global,” said Raman Sehgal, founder and global president, in a statement.
The agency will look to widen the range of services it offers pharma and biotech clients, and invest in its people by growing the team and providing more advancement opportunities, noted managing director Emma Banks.
It’s the third healthcare deal in the past 18 months for NorthEdge, following investments in life-sciences talent firm Meet in September 2021 and healthcare communications consultancy Helios in January 2021.
It also adds to the growing number of PE investments in life sciences marketing agencies – and, in turn, agency M&A activity. Both have surged in recent years. Notable examples include KnoxLane’s backing of Fingerpaint in late 2020, followed by Fingerpaint’s purchases of Leaderboard Branding, Splice Agency, 1798, Photo 51 and most recently MedThink Communications.
Other agencies whose PE backing has led to deal binges include Real Chemistry, which leveraged support from New Mountain Capital to snap up Swoop, IPM.ai, 21Grams and Starpower; Relevate, which deployed monies from partner Mountaingate Capital to buy Axon Communications and Arteric; and Lumanity, whose backing from Arsenal Capital Partners has enabled it to acquire six agencies over the last two years.
