Sarbacane Group, Mailify's parent company, raises $27M and takes on a new dimension in the digital marketing segment

HEM, France, Sept. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Based in the North of France, with US headquarters in New York, the Sarbacane Group, a publisher of applications for corporate communications,  is a reference in its market through its strong position among email marketing softwares in Europe. The group built a range of products around its expertise in email marketing, text messaging campaigns and marketing automation such as Layout, Sarbacane Chat and Touchdown, introduced in late 2019, and Datananas, a Paris-based startup acquired in April 2020. IDI, one of the leading listed investment companies in France, is investing nearly $10 million in the company alongside the management, under the leadership of founder Mathieu Tarnus, who remains the majority shareholder. This move underpins an ambitious strategy of innovation and external growth.

A unique positioning in a market in excellent shape

Digital communication tools help companies grow and are gaining in importance. The market is experiencing long-term growth, and has also been benefiting from the forced acceleration of the digitization of SMEs in 2020. Sarbacane publishes Mailify, a solution that allows companies to optimize and automate their email and text message communications. Today's financial transaction confirms the success of its strategy. The company generated $13M in revenues in 2019, and will invoice more than $16M in consolidated revenues in 2020. The startup has grown considerably and now has around one hundred employees. Even during the recent lockdown, recruitment did not slow down.

"In 2021, we will celebrate Sarbacane's 20th anniversary. Companies of all sizes in every sector have grown their business thanks to effective campaigns created with our tools. Their trust in us is what drives us to constantly innovate." Mathieu Tarnus, Founder & CEO of Sarbacane

The team, headquartered in the North of France, is the brains behind a unique approach based on 3 main concepts: cutting-edge features (Smart Template technology, predictive emailing, automatic multi-channel campaign, etc.), ease of use and, most importantly, individual support, which sets Mailify apart from other players in the market.

This approach has attracted nearly 10,000 companies, mainly SMEs but also government agencies and major groups (Christian Dior, L'Occitane, Mondial Relay, Warner Music, etc.). Mailify's premium approach is designed for professionals who aren't satisfied with low-cost self-service tools or the all-inclusive marketing suite model, which calls for significant resources and dedicated teams.

R&D and external growth to gain momentum

At the forefront of innovation in its field, Sarbacane plans to leverage this opportunity to further increase its investment in R&D, as it has done with the Smart Templates feature, released in summer 2020, whose algorithm is able to create customized, ready-to-send email and newsletter templates based on just a website's address. After Touchdown (email & text message marketing solution integrated with Microsoft Dynamics 365), Layout (email template builder) and Sarbacane Chat (chatbot and conversational marketing), all released in the last quarter of 2019, Mailify intends to continue to innovate in order to provide more effective solutions and provide technology that professionals need.

"The Sarbacane Group is accelerating its development through the growth of its various brands, all of which are leaders in their respective markets. We are thrilled to partner with the team in the implementation of this strategy, and in its diversification and acquisition projects in the field of marketing software and B2B services." Julien Bentz, Member of IDI's Executive Committee

A significant share of the transaction is earmarked for external growth, particularly abroad. The acquisition of the Datananas startup (sales automation), which the group acquired in April 2020, is the first step in a clearly defined strategy, notably to strengthen the group's position outside France. After the previous expansion phase supported by the Ardian Growth fund, this new financial deal marks the start of a new phase. It demonstrates the resilience and efficiency of Sarbacane's recurring service model (B2B SaaS) and the success of its approach.

About us

Sarbacane Group

The Sarbacane Group, a publisher of applications for corporate communications, made a name for itself with its eponymous software Sarbacane, internationnaly called Mailify, a leader in email marketing tools in Europe since 2001. The group built a range of products around its expertise in email marketing, text messaging campaigns and marketing automation: Mailify, Primotexto, Jackmail, Tipimail, Touchdown, Layout, and Sarbacane Chat. The Datananas startup, which joined the Group in April, marks the start of a new phase of external growth. Sarbacane, which has about a hundred employees in its offices in Lille and Barcelona, intends to continue its profitable growth strategy and surpass $30M in revenues before 2025.

IDI

IDI is one of the leading listed investment companies in France. The Group has specialised in providing support to small and mid-sized companies for 50 years. Thanks to the stability of its shareholding base and the quality of its teams, IDI is consistently one of the bestperforming companies in its sector. Since it was listed on the stock exchange in 1991, IDI has offered its shareholders an internal rate of return (dividends reinvested) of 15.7%.

IDI is listed on Euronext Paris. ISIN: FR0000051393 - Bloomberg: IDIP FP - Reuters: IDVP.PA

Ardian

Ardian is one of the world's leading private investment & asset management houses with 100 billion dollars under management and/or advisory in Europe, America and Asia. Relying on its values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian benefits from an international network of 690 employees in fifteen offices in Europe. Through its commitment to sharing the value created with all stakeholders, Ardian contributes to the growth of companies and economies around the world.

Sarbacane was assisted by Rothschild&Co and KPMG as financial advisers and by Lamartine Conseil as legal advisers.

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Contact: Matthieu DELENEUVILLE, matthieu.deleneuville@sarbacane.com, +33 (0)328328015

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SOURCE Sarbacane