Toronto-based shopper marketing firm Match Marketing Group is continuing its aggressive North American expansion with the purchase of Baltimore, MD-based retail merchandising agency Convergence Marketing.
Convergence implemented retail programs in more than 17,000 stores nationally last year. Its client list includes Walmart, Kroger, L’Oreal and P&G. “These are fantastic retailers and fantastic brands that we would love to continue working with, and some we currently do work with in other services,” said Brett Farren, CEO of Match Marketing.
Convergence brings with it approximately 100 head office staff in addition to over 5,000 field representatives. This brings Match’s staff count to approximately 500 with combined annual revenues approaching $200 million.
This is the eighth acquisition for Match in less than two years, the most recent being Marketing Drive and its digital subsidiary Weld Media.
Farren said the acquisition is a key part of the agency’s long-term success because it increases Match’s geographic retail footprint across North America.
“We can now go to our clients and offer coverage across every province in Canada and every state in the U.S. and really ensure that when we have our complete end-to-end solution all the pieces are in place,” Farren said.
According to Farren, there will be no immediate personnel changes as a result of the merger; Convergence’s management team and infrastructure will remain in place.
“We have wanted for some time to be able to provide our clients with more services and bring in more expertise, joining the Match network allows us to do just that,” said Convergence CEO Chris Miller, in a release.
“Convergence is now part of a North American agency that shares the same client-first beliefs and values that we have throughout our history,” he said.
When asked if there are still any missing pieces to Match’s ever-growing operation, Farren said he believes all the pieces are in place. “What we will be looking at is whether or not there’s a synergistic opportunity that adds mass or scale to any one of our existing services.”
