Drake Star Partners Advises Sgsco On Its Sale Of Kwikee To Syndigo

NEW YORK | April 27, 2020 – Sgsco, a portfolio company of ONEX Corporation, completed the sale of Kwikee to SaaS product information and syndication provider Syndigo, a portfolio company of The Jordan Company. Drake Star Partners acted as the exclusive financial advisor to sgsco on the transaction.

Founded over 50 years ago and based in Peoria, IL, Kwikee is North America’s original branded product content syndication platform. Kwikee’s innovative marketing content solutions include industry standard and optimized content creation as well as content management through product information management (PIM) brand portals. Kwikee solutions are used by consumer product manufacturers and retailers for e-commerce, digital, in-store and print applications.
Rob McCarthy, President, Design & Digital at sgsco, stated “Juan and the team at Drake Star led us through a strategic, tailored and efficient divestiture process leveraging their deep knowledge of the product content sector and strong relationships with key investors in the industry.”

Rachel McMenimen, VP Products & Partnerships at Kwikee, added “Drake Star already had intimate knowledge of Kwikee’s product offering and key competitors, which alleviated much of the burden on our team as we jointly drafted the marketing materials and positioned the investment opportunity.”

“Amidst a tumultuous global economic backdrop, Syndigo’s acquisition of Kwikee is further proof that strategically sound technology acquisitions continue to be consummated,” commented Juan Mejia, Partner at Drake Star. “As the product content creation, management and syndication market continues to evolve, we anticipate further consolidation as technology providers seek to provide end-to-end capabilities and expand geographically to meet the needs of their multinational clients. This is particularly true in the ‘CPG technology’ sector as manufacturers migrate to holistic solutions capable of serving online and offline channels from the supply chain through to marketing.”

Legal advisor: Fried Frank

Inquiries

For further inquiries, please contact:

Gregory Bedrosian

Managing Partner & CEO | Drake Star

gregory.bedrosain@drakestar.com | + 1 203 524 5652

About sgsco

Sgsco is a global digital enterprise built to help brands win at the Moment of Sale™. With more than 70 years of expertise in end-to-end design-to-consumer graphics services, sgsco is a world leader in omnichannel package design, digital art file creation, branded content production, image carrier manufacturing and global brand guardianship. Sgsco provides tailored, innovative packaging solutions utilizing top experts in design, production and digital services and advanced technology to support many of the world’s top consumer packaged goods brands, retailers, pharma, and print and digital media companies. With 4,900 professionals worldwide, sgsco helps companies deliver better, faster and leaner omnichannel solutions into the marketplace.

For more information, please visit www.sgsco.com

About Kwikee

For over 50 years, brands have trusted Kwikee to create, manage and syndicate product content that instills consumers’ trust, protects brand equity and drives sales. From eCommerce optimized imagery to “last mile” services and a brand portal, Kwikee enables brands to take control of the product content journey.

For more information, please visit www.kwikee.com

About Syndigo

Syndigo enables commerce by supporting the efficient transfer of information in the complex ecosystem of brands, retailers and their customers. The company provides descriptive product and nutritional information, images and other digital media, powered by deep analytics to empower engaging brand experiences online and in store. Through Syndigo’s integrated platform, Content Experience Hub, clients can publish, manage, syndicate and audit their product content across the largest trading network of brands and recipients in the world. Syndigo is a GS1 Certified Identification Partner and GDSN data pool.
Syndigo serves more than 10,000 brands and 1,500 retailers globally in many important consumer industries including grocery, foodservice, hardlines, home improvement/DIY, pet, health and beauty, automotive, apparel, and healthcare products.

For more information, please visit www.syndigo.com