Merian Chrysalis has revealed the target investment of its £50m fundraising round will be a US branding business founded by former Havas executives.
You & Mr Jones has raised over $500m (£385.7m) to date and is now conducting a further fundraising round to raise $260m. Merian Chrysalis has committed to invest $60m.
The unveiling of the target company comes three days after Merian announced it was seeking £50m through a non-pre-emptive share placing, priced at 148p and based on a net asset value of 142p.
A regulatory filing on Thursday revealing the identity of the target investment said Merian Chrysalis had received a positive response to the placing from both new and existing investors. The investment trust had opened up the placing to retail investors via Primary Bid for a minimum subscription of £100.
Alongside the $60m committed to You & Mr Jones, the placing would also raise money for a €15m (€13.6m) follow-on investment in Wefox, Europe’s largest digital insurance platform.
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Merian Chrysalis’s rationale for investing in You & Mr Jones
In a regulatory filing, Merian Chrysalis portfolio manager Nick Williamson said You & Mr Jones “perfectly” fit the investment trust’s investment strategy and criteria.
The New York-based business was founded by former Havas executives David Jones and Jean-Marc Antoni, who were formerly chief executive and CFO respectively at the global advertising business. You & Mr Jones employs around 3,000 people across 40 countries and has made seven acquisitions and 20 strategic investments to date. Its current clients include Unilever, Adidas, Microsoft, Danone, Diageo, Reebok, Reckitt Benckiser, PayPal and Google.
“It is a late-stage asset with a highly disruptive offering, very material revenue streams, is profitable and has a world-class management team and client list,” Williamson said. “This investment also diversifies our sector exposure and represents a significant milestone, given that it is the Company’s first investment outside of Europe.”
The Merian Chrysalis team pointed out You & Mr Jones had a well-respected management team and had growth “significantly” over many years. In H1 2020, the business generated a 27% rate of organic net revenue growth.
Co-manager Richard Watts (pictured) said: “We have a strong track record of investing in media and technology assets across the Jupiter UK small- and mid-cap desk and we firmly believe that You & Mr Jones is well positioned to capitalise on an enormous opportunity.”
BofA Securities acted as the introduction agent to You & Mr Jones.
