Award-winning Cheltenham digital marketing agency is sold

French digital marketing agency, JVWEB, has bought Gloucestershire-based search engine optimisation specialist, Ocere, in a deal that’s said to be a ‘win-win’ for both firms.

Specialising in SEO performance and content creation, the Cheltenham-based agency manages more than 220 active clients across a range of sectors, including gaming, technology and finance, in more than 40 languages.

Chief executive officer of Ocere, Tom Parling, said the deal with JVWEB was the result of a nine-month sales process which saw the Gloucestershire firm attract ‘significant global interest’.

It means Ocere, which has a turnover of £6 million and 20 staff, becomes part the ambitious French firm, which has 70 staff, a turnover of £12.5 million (€15 million) and raised £20 million (€25 million) to fund its growth in 2021.

‘We are excited to become part of an ambitious international group, develop our service offerings and continually improve our proposition to clients worldwide,’ said Parling, whose business grew by 63 per cent in 2021 and 113 per cent in 2020.

‘This move is a true ‘win-win’ for our clients, our teams and the collective ambition of both companies.’

JVWEB views the UK as ‘an important and exciting market’ and ‘a gateway to the English-speaking worldwide population.’

Both sides describe the ‘strategic acquisition’ is ‘a significant step forward in the development of an international digital marketing group with multilingual capabilities across several digital disciplines’, including SEO, Google ads, Facebook ads and content creation.

By Andrew Merrell

Follow SoGlos on LinkedIn and sign-up to the weekly SoGlos business newsletter for the very latest Gloucestershire business news stories.

© SoGlos
Friday 14 January 2022