Pioneering Bath specialist technical content marketing firm Publitek has been sold to a major UK digital communications group in a £6.2m deal.
The firm, founded by Bath entrepreneur Bob Jones, builds content platforms, creates and optimises content, and manages on and offline communities for more than 40 companies in the global semiconductor and electronic component market.
Clients include giants such as ARM, Ericsson, Intel, Sony, Verbatim and Cadence. 
Buyer London-based Next 15, which employs more than 1,250 people across 36 offices in 15 countries, said it planned to accelerate Publitek’s “already significant” growth prospects.
It said the acquisition was expected to be earnings enhancing for in the current financial year.
In the year to December 31, Publitek, based in Brock Street, earned adjusted pre-tax profits of £2m on gross sales of £5.9m, and had net assets of £3.1m. It is being acquired debt-free by Next 15.
The firm is paying around £5.7m in cash with the balance to be satisfied by the issue to the vendors of 228,704 new ordinary shares in Next 15.
Further payment based on Publitek’s average annual profits between 2018 and 2021 may be made depending on performance.
Next 15 CEO Tim Dyson said: “As the marketing industry becomes increasingly specialised and technology-driven, Next 15 is looking to find firms like Publitek that can drive these niche but powerful online communities.
“Publitek’s deep domain expertise in the semiconductor and component markets has enabled it to provide a unique way of reaching the CTOs, CIOs, specialist engineers and product managers who buy and use these technologies.
“As part of the Next 15 group, we believe we can accelerate Publitek’s already significant growth prospects.”
Publitek CEO Bob Jones will remain with the firm, which he founded in 1998.
He has more than 25 years’ experience in running tech PR and marketing communications agencies, following earlier careers in broadcast engineering and electronic component marketing. In 2015 he was named as one of The 100 most influential tech agency PR executives globally by the Hot Topics community of technology leaders.
He said: “Next 15’s global presence provides the platform we need to support our clients better and to accelerate our growth, particularly in the US and continental Europe.
“We share a common vision of how the digital revolution has impacted marketing communications and how truly integrated strategies can be harnessed to deliver better value for clients. We’re excited to be joining such a forward-thinking and successful international group.”
Publitek last year earned more than a third of its revenue from US-based clients.
