The belgium web agency, Emakina, listed on Alternext, announced May 31st, 2007 the acquisition of 50,1 % of Groupe Reflect. Manuel Diaz CEO of Groupe Reflect tells the story behind it. The value of the company was estimated to euro 2,4 million plus an undiscosed amount tied to performance over the next 3 years.
Manuel Diaz founded Groupe Reflect with his brother Carlos 10 years ago. They built it from Limoges, right in the middle of France, prior to their national development. With sales of euro 1.5 million, they were too small to compet on international bids and too big to stay at this level. Their client list include such large corporate accounts as Danone, L’Oreal, Nike…
Emakina, a belgium web interactive agency with 160 employees in 3 countries, is speeding up its international development through acquisitions. They are listed (ALEMK) on AlternextTM, a segment of Euronext for fast-growing SMEs. Their client list include Wrangler, Fortis, Coca-Cola, Dexia, Jean-Paul Gautier and more. The acquisition brings them to France and with GR, they will now compet locally with players such as FullSix.
Both companies share the same vision and values : strong added value in their recommendations, focus on interactive web services (2.0), customers centered, excellence in operational execution. I would compare it to craftmanship in the web 2.0 consulting services. So the partnership made sense.
Emakina’s PR here
Photos of the news at GR
Manuel Diaz, CEO of Groupe Reflect, interviewed on June 1st 2007 (in French)