IVE ACQUIRES CREATIVE AGENCY ELASTIC

Marketing, communications and printing group IVE has acquired Elastic Group, an independent creative agency, advancing its plan to expand its content creation offering and create an omnichannel value proposition.

The business, coming with 35 staff in NSW and Victoria, was acquired for what IVE said was a "modest upfront contribution" with the principals subject to an earn-out.

Elastic specialises in marketing strategy, creative and production, including TV commercials, video and motion content for digital and social channels as well as docu-series.

The agency has strong experience spanning the automotive, liquor, FMCG, property and tourism sectors with major clients including KIA, Dakin, Qantas, Ladbrokes, NSW Government and REA.

“We have been building our relationship with Elastic over the last 12 months, and are thrilled to welcome both Sydney and Melbourne teams into IVE Group," said Matt Aitken, managing director of IVE Group.

"The talented team at Elastic has been delivering fantastic work for 18 years, and the synergies made them the perfect fit.

"They have a great balance of strategic thinking, innovative creativity and high-quality production, which means we are now able to offer our clients greater through the line ideation and campaign execution across all marketing channels.” 

Nathan Richman, managing partner and co-founder of Elastic, said the agency had always been driven by a passion for delivering effective results. "We’re excited about this new chapter and what it means for our clients," he said.

"Joining forces with IVE not only enables us to amplify our creative impact, but also provides access to a broader range of resources and in-house expertise. Together we are ready to redefine what’s possible and deliver further innovation for our clients.” 

In a trading update last month, IVE said the group’s brand activations and 3PL businesses are performing strongly, and catalogue and magazine revenues are in-line with expectations. However, softer economic conditions have impacted data driven communication and commercial printing revenues during the current half.

In the half year to December, IVE posted a 0.6 per cent revenue lift to $506m. Net profit after tax was down 6.5 per cent to $22.7m.