Standard Media Index acquired by US private equity firm GTCR, leadership overhauled

News 3 Jun 2022 - 4 min read

Standard Media Index acquired by US private equity firm GTCR, leadership overhauled

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Tags: SMI Standard Media Index Jane Ractliffe

The new major investor in Standard Media Index has been revealed: GTCR, a US-based private equity firm, has acquired 100 per cent of SMI through its company Dreamscape. The financial details of the deal haven’t been disclosed, but Bailador, former Fairfax Media CEO David Kirk’s investment firm, sold its stake for $20 million. AUNZ Managing Director Jane Ractliffe said she was “thrilled” by Dreamscape’s investment.

What you need to know:

Standard Media Index, the company founded in Australia by Sue Fennessy and Jane Ractliffe, has been acquired by private equity firm GTCR through its Dreamscape company.
Financial terms have not been disclosed, but SMI CEO James Fennessy will step down and become a Dreamscape board member. Former IAS CEO Scott Knoll will become SMI CEO.
Ractliffe said she was thrilled at the investment, and that the Dreamscape team had a history of growing successful businesses in this space.

Advertising measurement company Standard Media Index has acquired by US-based private equity firm GTCR through its Dreamscape company, prompting a leadership overhaul.

SMI, founded in Australia in 2009 by Sue Fennessy and Jane Ractliffe, gives a granular look at client and agency investment and captures 95 per cent of US national brand spend. It has offices in New York, London, Madrid, Toronto and Sydney, and is led locally by Ractliffe, its AUNZ Managing Director.

In a statement released overnight, GTCR announced SMI’s chief executive, James Fennessy, will step down as CEO and become a member of Dreamscape’s Board of Directors. Scott Knoll, the CEO of Dreamscape and a former Integral Ad Science CEO, will take over leadership of SMI.

“SMI’s leading data and ad intelligence products provide clients with real-time information to help drive better strategies around spend, placement and yield optimization,” Knoll said in a statement.

“With the proliferation of media channels and ad types, the insights that SMI can help provide are now an essential driver of media strategy … The SMI team has built a truly unique offering and, together with our partners at GTCR, we believe there is an opportunity to further advance the platform and drive growth across the business.”

In March, one of SMI’s early major investors, Bailador – set up by former Fairfax Media CEO David Kirk and Paul Wilson – announced it had sold its stake for $20 million. It did not say who the new investor was, except that the investment required foreign investment regulatory approval.

“SMI has long been an innovative leader which we have admired for its data intelligence tools,” Stephen Master, Principal at GTCR, said, describing the company as “truly exceptional”.

The financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.

Ractliffe told Mi3: “We’re thrilled to see our vision for creating the leading advertising intelligence company has been valued by the Dreamscape team. And it’s clear the values of our new investors are very much aligned with those of SMI given their success in growing IAS into the leading Digital campaign measurement business.

“We look forward to working with them to deliver even further benefits to our clients and agency partners.

“I’d also like to thank my wonderful AU/NZ team for all their work; the Australian media agency leads who facilitated introductions to their global counterparts and also the team at Bailador Investments who backed our vision and stood by us as we expanded internationally.”

It’s the second ad tech investment by Dreamscape, which announced last month it had invested in SQAD, an advertising research, analytics and media planning software company.