Reed Sells Entertainment Specialist MarketCast

LA-based entertainment research provider MarketCast has been acquired from owners Reed Business Information (RBI) by a private equity firm, Shamrock Capital Growth Fund III, for an undisclosed sum.

Established in the mid-1980s, MarketCast has been part of RBI, itself a subsidiary of Reed Elsevier Group plc, since January 2000, and also has offices in New York, Boston, and London. It offers qual and quant research and consulting services to help refine messaging and creative execution, and to guide their overall marketing strategy. Clients include producers and marketers of movies, TV shows and comic books, and services range from materials testing, concept and positioning studies, audience screenings and tracking studies to ad hoc custom work such as usage and attitudes research.

The new owners are also based in Los Angeles, and have more than $700m invested in the media, entertainment and communications sectors.

MarketCast CEO Henry Shapiro says the firm has enjoyed more than a decade of nearly uninterrupted growth and has many opportunities to pursue, 'from continuing our international expansion, to launching new products for our core clients, to migrating into related entertainment sectors, whether through organic growth, acquisition, or partnerships.'

Welcoming MarketCast's 'unparalleled sector expertise and proprietary analytic tools', Shamrock Partner William Wynperle says the company represents 'a terrific platform' on which Shamrock 'expects to build rapidly'.

RBI Global CEO Mark Kelsey said his company wanted to focus on core activities around 'building paid content, whether in data, subscriptions, conferences or events' and felt that MarketCast 'could best continue to thrive with existing management and a new owner for whom marketing research is a core priority.'

Web sites: www.marketcastonline.com and www.shamrockcap.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.