Online Ad Shop Rosetta Plus Brulant Equals New Dynamo in Digital
Via ClickZ and MediaPost, breaking news today that Rosetta, a New Jersey-based indie digital firm is acquiring Brulant, a fellow traveler in the online waters based in Cleveland. The deal with make them one of the largest indepedent digital shops in the US, with a total of over 600 employees and combined revenues that vary from $125 million to $130 million, depending on who's s reporting -- ClickZ has $125 million, while MediaPost quotes Rosetta CEO Chris Kuenne with $130 million. From the ClickZ article:
The new agency will be called Rosetta, and the name Brulant will be phased out over the rest of the year. The combined entity will have six offices, including outposts in Boston, New York City and Princeton, New Jersey. [Brulant CEO Len] Pagon will take the title co-chairman, while Rosetta founder, chairman and CEO Chris Kuenne will keep his titles.Pagon sounds bullish on prospects for the combined firms. He tells MediaPost, "We have our eye on about 100 companies, which can help us grow in the areas of mobile, rich media, and social networking." To ClickZ he's even bolder, hinting, "We are looking to expand into San Francisco, and eventually Europe and Asia, so we are looking at acquisitions that could help us achieve scale and critical mass in those markets. We are also looking to add expertise in social media, mobile and rich media. By the first half of next year I wouldn't be surprised if we made another deal."