Kin + Carta Sells Edit to Ambitious Salocin

Digital transformation consultancy Kin + Carta has sold its Edit customer data business to data driven marketing services provider The Salocin Group for £13.35m in cash. Salocin says it plans further acquisitions as it builds a data powered marketing services group.

Kin + Carta has also sold its Relish product sampling wing for £5.25m in cash, to logistics firm Whistl, completing the divestiture of its venture units.

Salocin says the buy is the first of many, for a group which will take in marketing technology, CRM, analytics, content development and media optimisation. The Edit deal was financed by NVM Private Equity which has invested £14.8m; and Edit's leadership team will also take a stake in the business. Salocin is headed by serial marketing services and customer communications entrepreneur Nick Dixon.

Edit's data solutions, acquisition and retention campaigns for major brands are built and managed by a team of more than 120 data scientists, engineers, technology strategists and planners based in London and Bath. Revenue is just over £12m.

Kin + Carta says it will now focus on enterprise-level technology, data, and experience products and services; while Edit concentrates on helping clients maximise the value of their first party data. The two businesses will continue to work closely together, principally in support of key strategic partner, Microsoft, but also collaborating on client transformation projects.

Dixon comments: 'I have kept tabs on Edit from afar for several years, their clear strategic focus on maximising the value of 1st-party data, and their innovative award-winning campaigns for a wide selection of blue-chip clients covering different sectors, for both b2c and b2b, demonstrates their class-leading credentials. I look forward to contributing to the next phase of their growth'.

'These divestments mark the culmination of our journey to a pure-play DX focused business' says Kin + Carta CEO J Schwan (pictured). Schwan says Salocin is 'well-disposed to maintain a close and supportive partnership with Kin + Carta post-sale' and notes 'you can expect to see Edit and Kin + Carta still partnering, much as we have been doing to date, for some years to come'.

Web sites: www.edit.co.uk , www.kinandcarta.com and www.salocin-group.com .