Houlihan Lokey Advises Phoenix Marketing International

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Phoenix Marketing International (Phoenix), a portfolio company of ZS Fund LP, has been acquired by MarketCast, a portfolio company of Kohlberg & Company. The transaction closed on March 21, 2022.

Phoenix, a leading research and analytics provider that specializes in advertising measurement, is one of the top research firms in the U.S. (GreenBook Market Leaders Report). Founded in 1999, and operating in all major industries, Phoenix utilizes modern technology, innovative research techniques, and customized approaches to help clients elevate their brand, refine their communications, and optimize their customer experience.

MarketCast research, analytics, and data science fuel fandom for leading studios, entertainment platforms, sports, and lifestyle brands. Its unique mix of research analytics is combined with big data science to provide clients with powerful insights to inform their biggest business decisions. Today, MarketCast counts some of the biggest names in entertainment as clients, including leading Hollywood studios, streaming services, video games publishers, lifestyle brands, and sports leagues and teams.

“The acquisition of Phoenix supports MarketCast’s vision of creating the most tech- and data-forward research business on the planet, where primary research is combined with big data to determine what fans watch, buy, and listen to most and why they choose to watch, buy, and listen,” said John Batter, CEO of MarketCast. “We see tremendous opportunity to bring these two businesses together, combining our unique media research and big data expertise to innovate new ad effectiveness solutions.”

“It was important for us to find a team that shared our common values, passion, and vision for the future of advertising research and technology, and MarketCast checked every box,” said Al DeCotiis, Founder and CEO of Phoenix. “With a powerful portfolio of media and advertising research and a record of working with the biggest names in entertainment, sports, and technology, MarketCast is the ideal home for Phoenix’s people, platforms, and clients, and we look forward to beginning this new chapter of growth and innovation together.”

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to Phoenix and assisted in structuring and negotiating the transaction on its behalf.