Opus Agency (www.opusagency.com), a global corporate events and experiential marketing agency, announced today that Fan Creek Capital, a mid-market private equity firm, has completed an equity investment in the agency. Fan Creek’s investment will provide Opus with substantial growth capital in order to expand its capabilities and continue to serve clients with the best suite of solutions in the event marketing industry.
JEGI CLARITY (www.jegiclarity.com), the leading independent investment bank for the global media, information, marketing, software and tech-enabled services sectors, headquartered in New York, NY, represented Opus in this transaction.
As part of the agreement, Opus CEO Grant Hammersley and President Monte Wood will remain owners in the business, which will continue to be headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon. Hammersley will move to the position of Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Opus, and will remain active in defining Opus’ strategic direction and fostering the agency’s renowned, team-centric culture. Wood, who will assume the role of CEO and join the Board as well, will continue to lead Opus’ team while pursuing aggressive growth goals for the agency.
Opus is a full service corporate events marketing agency which has achieved sustained, dramatic year-over-year growth thanks in large part to a customer success-focused approach called TeamCS™—industry-best people, galvanized by strong values, and enabled with leading-edge methodology. Powered by a diverse and talented team of more than 125 people, and led by an experienced group of veteran industry executives, Opus successfully planned and executed more than 700 events around the world in 2014 alone.
Opus services Fortune 1000 companies in the technology, aviation, manufacturing, and other sectors, with clients including leading brands such as Salesforce, Amazon Web Services, EMC, Alaska Airlines, and Daimler Trucks North America. By placing a premium on developing longstanding client relationships, the agency has amassed an impressive portfolio based largely on referrals and repeat business—a model which will continue to fuel growth following this investment.
“When we began looking for a private equity partner to help us achieve the growth we foresee in the coming years, the most important factor was finding a firm which recognized what a good thing Opus has going, and would let us continue to operate the way we do. We found exactly that in Fan Creek Capital,” added Hammersley. “I have the utmost confidence that our team, backed by the new resources now at our disposal and under Monte’s continued leadership, will help Opus achieve even greater heights as we move forward.”
Fan Creek Capital is the firm formed earlier in 2015 by veteran private equity investor Jim TenBroek. Fan Creek provides growth capital and expertise to rapidly growing businesses in growth segments of industries. “Opus is an excellent Company run by arguably the best team in the Event Agency industry,” said TenBroek. “It’s a perfect fit with Fan Creek in that our expertise is helping companies grow more effectively, and making sure that what made a company excellent in the first place is preserved with that growth.”
The JEGI CLARITY team is truly one of the smartest and most effective teams in the industry. They have been a trusted adviser for many years and their expertise and effort in this transaction were extremely effective and easily reduced our management team’s workload by 30%. They put in a Herculean effort over the past many weeks, and their effectiveness drove an exceptional outcome. Not only did they do a fantastic job, they did it with grace and style, and it has been an absolute pleasure working with them from day one through close. The end result was a win/win/win outcome. Our shareholders won, the Opus Team won, and we feel as if the PE firm won as well. This entire process could not have been done more effectively, and JEGI CLARITY has a lifelong friend.
Monte Wood, President, Opus