The final valuation will become known in 2021, based on MediaLink's adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization). MediaLink's $69 million sale price was a multiple of earnings, based on current earnings. There have been people who have knocked on our door and wanted to advance conversations, and we are always open to a conversation, but it's a Goldielocks approach: one may have been too hot, one too cold, and this one was just right.' He added: 'I've always advised clients, and I would tell you in my own perspective, that we have never been for sale. Kassan says it wasn't quite like that, although he said that as a 'people person,' he's always talking to people about potential opportunities. Some of those sources suggested MediaLink had been looking to sell itself for a while - and any international offices opened as a result of those acquisitions would likely help boost its valuation. Sources told Business Insider that over the past few months, MediaLink had been speaking with a number of Europe-based consultancy and marketing information firms about potential acquisitions in order to help the company grow its footprint beyond the US. Whether MediaLink's US-style approach will work in the European market remains to be seen. The US is the world's biggest ad market, so this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but Ascential offers MediaLink bridge into Europe and beyond into Asia. The third leg is the execution which I think is a step that - and I have respect for traditional management consultancy firms - but it's a step many of them don't get involved in,' Kassan said.īut one of MediaLink's disadvantages versus its rivals is that it is very US-focused. The 13-year-old company has four offices, all based in the US. 'We advise the client, we help create a strategy, then we figure out the implementation. He says the company sets itself apart from its competitors in the marketing and media consultancy space by acting out a 'three-legged stool' approach. MediaLink sat in on 'somewhere like 60% of the most important advertising reviews in the world,' last year, according to Kassan. Kassan describes MediaLink as sitting at the 'intersection of marketing, media, advertising, entertainment, and tech.' The management consultancy advises clients - which includes consumer brands and media companies - on business transformation, organization design, due diligence and strategy for acquisitions, executive search, and advertisers' media and creative reviews. MediaLink will join Ascential's information services unit, alongside the likes of fashion trend forecasting service WGSN and environmental risk data business Groundsure. Why Ascential bought MediaLink and what happens nowīut MediaLink isn't just about big names and fancy parties - although tentpole events on the advertising calendar give the company a chance to charge its clients to get themselves in front of the most important people in attendance.

The MediaLink and Condé Nast party at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in 2016 saw Lady Gaga perform. Last year, the company threw an invite-only party with iHeartRadio at the exclusive Hotel du Cap Eden Roc which featured music from Coldplay's Chris Martin and an impromptu duet with Will Smith, where they performed the 'Men in Black' theme to an audience of celebrities and top executives including Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell. The company takes up a space at the famous Ritz Carlton hotel for its clients to meet, network, and thrash out business deals. MediaLink formalized a partnership with the Cannes Lions festival about six years ago. I grabbed my friend Irwin Gotlieb and we started going.' It was a creative playground and I was blown away. I was in the south of France about 20 years ago, sometime in the late '90s, and ran into some friends at a pool. Speaking to Business Insider on Tuesday, MediaLink CEO Michael Kassan said: 'I think it's fair to say I was one of the first media people to ever go to the Cannes Lions, which was a celebration for creatives. The Cannes Lions advertising festival, which takes place on the French Riviera each summer, serves as the picturesque backdrop to the deal and was how the CEOs of the two companies first met. It often indicates a user profile.Īscential will purchase MediaLink for an initial cash consideration of $69 million, but the total consideration, including earnouts, could reach up to $207 million if the company meets its performance targets. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.

Medialink inc