BA digital marketing agency bought by German specialist

Bigmouthmedia, the UK digital marketing company behind campaigns for British Airways and Hilton Hotels, has been bought by Munich-based web firm Global Media for £40 million. The acquisition will hand Global Media its first footprint in the UK search sector after concentrating its efforts on continental Europe and Asia. The UK agency has worked with…

Bigmouthmedia, the UK digital marketing company behind campaigns for British Airways and Hilton Hotels, has been bought by Munich-based web firm Global Media for £40 million.


The acquisition will hand Global Media its first footprint in the UK search sector after concentrating its efforts on continental Europe and Asia.


The UK agency has worked with BA.com for a number of years and recently retained a fiercely fought pitch to handle its search engine optimisation and pay-per-click advertising.


Other clients on the Bigmouth roster include internet portal AOL and Barclays.


Bigmouth’s chief executive Steve Leach, who will become Global Media’s chief strategy officer but will remain in charge of UK and US operations, said: “It’s no secret that we have had a number of approaches for a deal but it wasn’t just about the investment for us – we needed to find a partner with shared chemistry and vision for growth.”


The deal was brokered and backed by The Carlyle Group.


Global Media chief executive Thomas Gerteis said: “We’ve been involved in digital marketing for a decade now and have gained a very thorough understanding of the market.


This merger presents an enormous enhancement of our international market attendance.”