Shake launches second South African Agency
Shake Interactive has launched its second South African office following the 40% controlling stage in mobile internet agency, MyBeat Interactive.
The deal, supported by The Royal Bank of Scotland, saw Shake take a stake in the South African company to take on its client list which includes Capita Group, Associated Newspapers owner, DMGT plc and several advertising and new media agencies.
It is expected that the acquisition of MyBeat will add around 20% to Shake’s turnover, which was £4.5million in its second financial year.
The company opened an office in New York last month, headed up by client services director and co-found Anna Russell.
The company acquired the 40% stake from South African venture capital firm Here Be Dragons, which was founded by internet billionaire and space traveller Mark Shuttleworth in 2000. The three remaining individual shareholders make up the firm’s management team and all three will continue in their current roles.
Ben Cook, operations director and co-founder of Shake Interactive, said: “This latest investment consolidates our position in South Africa, a country with 32 million mobile phone users and, in terms of Shake’s own corporate development, it means we now have four offices in three continents.
“We’ve collaborated with MyBeat on a number of projects in the last year or so and it’s a great comfort to make an acquisition like this in the knowledge that we already work well together and understand each other. The management are very much in tune with our aim of becoming the world’s leading emerging technology agency and they have developed a platform that is one of only a handful in the world that is truly flexible to the changes in media consumption.”