EagleTree Capital Acquires The Opus Group; Investment to Accelerate Global, Client-Centric Growth Across Opus Agency Brands

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Opus Group (“Opus”), a purpose-built network of agency brands delivering experiential, event, and brand marketing for more than 70 global companies, including some of the world's most influential brands, today announced that investment funds managed by EagleTree Capital (“EagleTree”) have acquired Opus from its previous partner, Growth Catalyst Partners.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Live and experiential marketing is playing an increasingly central role in how global brands build trust and drive commercial impact. Marketing organizations across industries are investing more in experiences that bring audiences together across borders and channels, making the category one of the fastest-growing areas of modern brand building.

Opus brings together three distinct agency brands — Opus Agency, MAS, and Verve — with offices across the U.S., EMEA, and APAC. Clients include Amazon, BMW, Diageo, Google, and Salesforce, among others. Each agency brings its own specialization while operating across an integrated global delivery model.

"EagleTree is an exceptional partner for this next stage because they understand where this industry is heading and appreciate the caliber of the agencies, the client relationships, and the global footprint we've built," said Kim Kopetz, President and CEO of The Opus Group. "Their investment will help deepen our capabilities, accelerate our delivery, and provide even greater value for clients around the world."

EagleTree has invested across professional services and brings direct category experience in experiential, events, media, and marketing-adjacent businesses, including previous and current investments like Sparks, Moss, PRA, MMGY, Arc, The Channel Company, Northstar, ALM and Penton.

“The Opus Group stands out for the quality of its agency brands, its global reach, and its ability to bring strategy and execution together for leading brands,” said Michael Struble, Senior Partner at EagleTree. "We see a strong market position at a time when integrated, experience-led partners are increasingly what global brands are looking for, and we are excited to support Kim and the leadership team as they scale the business further."

“Opus is truly distinguished in the experiential marketing sector and stands out from many of the players in the space,” added Anup Bagaria, Co-Managing Partner at EagleTree. “We’re honored and excited to be the company’s next partner.”

During its partnership with Growth Catalyst Partners, The Opus Group significantly broadened its capabilities, grew its client base, and strengthened its position as a modern agency network with global reach. EagleTree's investment will build on that foundation and look to accelerate growth via multiple organic initiatives and strategic acquisitions.

"Over the course of our partnership, The Opus Group expanded its capabilities and global footprint while solidifying its role as a trusted brand experience partner for clients around the world," said Scott Peters, Managing Partner of Growth Catalyst Partners. "We are proud of what the team has accomplished and confident that EagleTree is the right partner to support the company's continued trajectory."

BrightTower, a New York City headquartered investment banking and M&A advisory services firm, served as the exclusive financial advisor to Opus in this transaction. Kirkland and Ellis and Dickinson Wright acted as legal advisors to Opus, and Jones Day and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP acted as legal advisors to EagleTree. Monroe Capital acted as sole lead arranger and administrative agent on the funding of a senior secured credit facility to support the transaction.

About The Opus Group

The Opus Group is a purpose-built network of leading marketing agencies that deliver world-class experiential, event, and brand solutions. The Opus Group’s industry-renowned, highly-awarded agencies, including Opus Agency, MAS, and Verve, provide scalable, end-to-end solutions designed to drive action and impact. With a global footprint and specialized expertise, The Opus Group partners with over 70 global companies, including the world’s most influential brands. To see the results our teams deliver, visit theopusgroup.com.

About EagleTree Capital

EagleTree Capital is a leading New York-based middle-market private equity firm, with $4.4 billion of assets under management, that has completed over 45 private equity investments and more than 105 add-on transactions over the past 20+ years. EagleTree primarily invests in North America in the following sectors: business services, consumer, and specialty industrial. For more information, visit www.eagletree.com or find EagleTree on LinkedIn.

About Growth Catalyst Partners

Growth Catalyst Partners is a middle-market private equity firm investing in information, marketing, and tech-enabled services businesses. GCP's strategy involves targeting growth segments of industries and identifying and building market-leading companies with breakout potential. GCP partners with company founders and owners, along with experienced executives within those industries, and provides capital, proprietary deal origination, and operating expertise to the management teams. GCP's team has deep sector expertise and has led hundreds of transactions and successful investments in services businesses for over 20 years. Since the firm's founding in 2015, GCP has completed over 130 acquisitions across its industry-leading platform companies. For more information, visit www.growthcatalystpartners.com.