ECI Partners has completed the sale of Imagesound to Livingbridge, generating a 2.6x return.
Chesterfield-headquartered Imagesound is a tech-enabled digital media service company with over 65,000 music zones. It operates two brands across a global footprint, operating in 160 countries.
Imagesound provides in-store audio and visual solutions to a large number of blue-chip retail and leisure customers. Music Styling delivers a highly curated and bespoke service to high-profile international hotel and cruise groups.
ECI partnered with Imagesound in 2016, and since then the business has transformed from being predominantly UK-based, with just 10% of revenues coming from outside the UK, to a truly global company. International revenues now account for more than half of total Group revenues and Imagesound has also significantly expanded its international presence with new offices in Miami, Shanghai and Dubai.
The business has also completed four acquisitions, further strengthening its global market position.
The investment from Livingbridge will help Imagesound to continue to drive its organic growth globally and underpin an ongoing buy and build strategy.
Will Truman, CEO of Imagesound, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with the ECI team over the past six years to expand our international footprint, develop our product offering and grow our team by over 100%. I’d like to thank the team at ECI for a successful partnership, and I look forward to working with Livingbridge over the coming years as we look to double in size again.”
Matthew Caffrey, partner at Livingbridge, said: “We’re very excited to be partnering with Will and the team. They have done a fantastic job growing Imagesound through the pandemic and the business is extremely well positioned for growth. We are particularly keen to continue to grow the proposition internationally and look forward to building on recent success, particularly in the US market.”
John Hayhurst, partner at ECI Partners, said: “It has been a pleasure to work alongside chairman Derek Mapp, Will and the team for the past six years, helping to expand the company’s global proposition. We believe Imagesound is well-positioned to continue along its impressive growth trajectory. We would like to thank the team for such a successful partnership, and we wish them and Livingbridge all the best for the future.”
