NEW YORK, Jan. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — McMurry and TMG Custom Media, two industry-leading content marketing pioneers, have merged to create the nation’s largest independent full-service content marketing agency. The transaction creates a company with annual revenues of close to $100 million, 270 employees, hundreds of clients, and offices in New York City, Washington, Phoenix and Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The Wicks Group of Companies, a 23-year-old New York private equity firm, worked with the agencies to engineer the transaction and has taken a majority ownership stake in the new company, which will be called McMurry/TMG, LLC. No further financial details of the deal were disclosed.

Matt Petersen, formerly TMG Custom Media’s president, has been named the combined company’s CEO, and Fred Petrovsky, who had been McMurry’s president, is its COO. Keith Sedlak, who was senior vice president, client partnerships, at TMG, has been named chief revenue officer. Chris McMurry, former CEO of McMurry, and Jane Ottenberg and Richard Creighton, founders of TMG, retain a minority interest in the combined company and will continue to be involved.

“The joining of these two financially strong, growing and award-winning companies instantly positions McMurry/TMG as a content marketing industry heavyweight,” said Mr. Petersen. “Content is the new marketing currency and its importance continues to grow. Marketers are harnessing content’s ability to reach and engage key constituencies in a measurable way across a spectrum of online and offline platforms — from magazines and other content platforms to every type of digital, video, mobile, search and social media experience. The combined capabilities of these two long-time leaders in the field will be a compelling proposition to existing and potential clients.”

The new company will provide a comprehensive range of content marketing services, including content strategy, content creation in all popular forms, content distribution and campaign analytics, to an array of businesses, associations and institutions. The companies’ current clients include hundreds of businesses and nonprofits in fields like healthcare and education, financial services, travel and hospitality, e-commerce and luxury goods. The roster includes a large number of Fortune 500 companies and well-known consumer brands.

Few staff reductions are expected as the companies integrate their operations, as both firms’ service lines are working at full capacity. The company headquarters will be in New York City, where, in mid-2013, the predecessor companies’ New York City offices will be combined in a new facility.

“This is a tremendous combination of talent and industry presence that we believe creates the largest and best positioned content marketing agency in the United States, if not the world,” said Dan Kortick, managing partner of The Wicks Group. “We are very proud to have brought these two visionary firms together with this transaction and are delighted to add them to our portfolio of sector leaders. Growth prospects for this corner of the marketing industry are very bright. We are confident that the management team in place at McMurry/TMG is well equipped to take advantage of the growing demand for content marketing.”

McMurry and TMG were represented by The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc., a New York City-based investment bank that specializes in the media, information, marketing services and technology industries. AMR International acted as strategic advisors to The Wicks Group of Companies on the transaction.

About McMurry
McMurry is a global leader in content marketing, serving 150 of the Fortune 500 companies. The company helps brands in a wide variety of industries achieve critical business outcomes through the effective, multichannel use of content and services such as content strategy, content creation and content distribution. The company began in 1984 — before content marketing was in vogue — and is considered a founder of an industry that is now among marketing’s fastest growing areas of spending. Its nearly 200 employees are based in New York and Phoenix offices.

About TMG Custom Media
TMG is the leader in developing content marketing strategies for major corporate and non-profit brands and then bringing them to life with award-winning magazines, e-newsletters, websites, videos, white papers and social media. Its clients include major corporations, trade and professional associations, healthcare organizations, nonprofits and well-known educational and thought leader institutions. Founded in 1981, TMG is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has an office in New York.

About The Wicks Group of Companies, L.L.C.
The Wicks Group of Companies is a private equity firm based in New York City that invests in lower-middle-market companies operating in selected segments of the information, education and media industries principally in the United States and Canada. Since its founding in 1989, Wicks has invested over $1 billion of capital in 28 platform companies and approximately 100 add-on acquisitions. The firm has applied a consistent strategy since its founding, partnering with high-quality, experienced management teams to build businesses organically and through acquisitions.

About JEGI
The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. (JEGI) of New York, the leading independent investment bank for the media, information, marketing and technology sectors, celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2012. Since 1987, JEGI has completed more than 500 high-profile M&A transactions for global corporations; middle market and emerging companies; entrepreneurial owners; and private equity and venture capital firms. For more information, visit www.jegi.com.

SOURCE McMurry; TMG Custom Media