LONDON, UK — Brave Bison, the AIM-listed global social media & marketing company, is acquiring award-winning digital advertising & commerce agencies Greenlight Digital and Greenlight Commerce.
The transformational acquisition will bring Greenlight’s expertise in digital advertising, including performance, SEO and eCommerce, to Brave Bison’s existing strengths as a social marketing partner with 150 million followers and billions of monthly views, providing further opportunities for growth and a wider range of expertise to clients of both parties.
Partnership to supercharge client and agency growth
Greenlight has worked with an array of blue-chip brands and omni-channel retailers on award-winning multi-channel digital strategies and innovative new technology solutions. The addition of Greenlight to the Brave Bison roster brings decades of combined digital and eCommerce experience to the company. Similarly, partnering with Brave Bison allows Greenlight access to a world-leading cross-platform social media network that generates over 1 billion monthly views, opening new doors of opportunity for clients on both sides.
Once the acquisition completes, Brave Bison is expected to see revenues more than double in the first year. Further expansion into lucrative APAC markets will also be a first port of call, with Greenlight utilising Brave Bison’s Singapore office as a beachhead, and further expansion into Japan and Thailand on the cards.
The enlarged Brave Bison will be a certified partner to all of the major technology, advertising, and social media platforms including Facebook, Google, Snapchat, YouTube, Salesforce, Amazon, SAP, Microsoft, and BigCommerce.
Acquisition to stay true to shared entrepreneurial spirit
Brave Bison and Greenlight believe themselves to be ideal partners with strong shared values: entrepreneurial spirit, a passion for innovation, and a professionalism rooted in decades of combined experience in digital and social advertising.
Brave Bison is run by brothers Oliver Green and Theo Green, 29 and 26-years-old respectively, who are pioneering a fresh model for the new era of advertising: a single company that combines a next generation media network with high-growth digital advertising services, providing clients with access to both eyeballs and execution. This unique approach to digital advertising represents great opportunities for both existing and future clients.
Oliver and Theo will remain the largest shareholders in AIM-listed Brave Bison, having invested through their privately-held technology company Tangent.
Warren Cowan and Andreas Pouros, outgoing Chairman and CEO, respectively, will remain minority shareholders in the enlarged Brave Bison.
A new kind of digital media company
Brave Bison is quickly becoming the UK’s ‘challenger media company’ with a unique proposition that offers clients access to high-performance digital advertising, as well as the reach and engaged audiences of a thriving digital media network. Greenlight’s multi-award-winning team will bring new sets of skills in full-service digital advertising to the table, resulting in a truly innovative proposition set to disrupt the industry landscape.
Oliver Green, Executive Chairman of Brave Bison, commented: “We are building a media company for the new era: a single business that combines our own media network with digital and social marketing capabilities, providing clients with access to both eyeballs and execution. This acquisition represents a significant step towards realising our vision and we are delighted to welcome the Greenlight team to Brave Bison.”
Andreas Pouros, outgoing CEO of Greenlight Digital, commented:
“Our alliance with Brave Bison opens up a huge range of opportunities to our clients and employees alike. The reach and social media prowess of Brave Bison are second to none but, while we certainly wanted to ensure we were acquired by a partner that represented significant opportunities for growth, it was also important for us to find partners that upheld our existing values and company culture. Brave Bison is the perfect next step in Greenlight’s story, and Oli and Theo are the best individuals I could imagine for the job of combining and supercharging the Greenlight business. I look forward to seeing what exciting and innovative projects are to come!’
Warren Cowan, outgoing Chairman of Greenlight Digital & Commerce, commented:
“There’s no doubt about it. The future of brand, customer acquisition, and the very essence of digital transformation is socially driven and underpinned by community and content that reaches and touches customers wherever they are. The new company and vision are the perfect approach to that new world and opens up exciting opportunities for our teams and our customers to break out of channel-led thinking, focussing on success in the new era of hyper-informed digital consumers.”
