Performance marketing agency NetBooster has acquired the UK digital agency 4Ps Marketing, upgrading its search merits and working its way towards a larger chunk of the European market.

While the fee was undisclosed, NetBooster claims the transaction was made with a mix of cash and stock, coupled with a performance-based earn-out scheme ending in December 2018.

Merging 4Ps’ technology gives NetBooster a healthy lift in SEO and paid media, with the acquired firm’s expertise in SEM for top-level clients earning it a number of industry accolades this year alone.

The buyout also makes the French agency one of the biggest independent performance marketing players across three core European markets – France, Germany and the UK - and means that in the latter alone, NetBooster has a 140-man presence.

Combined with its US partner, its total staff roster sits at over 850 worldwide.

UK performance marketing

Reflecting on the deal, NetBooster’s group CEO, Tim Ringel, said: “Their [4Ps] decision shows that NetBooster is the perfect home for entrepreneurs of best in class agencies to outgrow their market limitations and join the mission of building a real global independent player in our industry.

“The combination of NetBooster UK and 4Ps puts us at the forefront of the UK performance marketing space and this will result in growth from UK clients but also international customers running their European operations out of the UK.”

For 4Ps, the announcement satisfies a demand from staff and clients to increase in scale “nationally and internationally”, claims co-founder Matt Phelan, while providing access to NetBooster’s global delivery capabilities, and suite of performance marketing services, including international data and analytics.

Led by Phelan and fellow co-founder Chris Hyland, the two groups’ UK operations will be integrated over the coming months, overseen by a newly-formed country management team.

Phelan also adopts a senior global role as part of the performance marketing agency’s strategic committee to support global expansion.