Australia's Fortitude exits Shopper Media to Woolworths

The transaction facilitates an exit for Fortitude Investment Partners, a local private equity firm established by professionals from Blue Sky Alternative Investments. Shopper received funding from Blue Sky in 2017. When the latter went into administration in 2019, Fortitude assumed responsibility for certain institutional funds and mandates.

Shopper was founded in 2015 by Ed Couche and Ben Walker, who previously worked for oOh!Media, an out-of-home advertising business that was privatised by CPE Capital in 2011 and relisted three years later. Walker, who served as CEO, died earlier this year.

Shopper’s digital panels – either eye-level and floor-mounted or large format and wall-mounted – enable brands to engage with and convert customers close to point-of-sale.

The company leverages Bluetooth beacons, Wi-Fi access points, and visual heatmaps to establish consumer preferences, collecting data that feeds into more personalised content. The Shopper Study function is used to conduct customer surveys and deliver ads to mobile devices, while Shopper Ai is an audience profiling tool that overlays multiple data sources with heat mapping technology.

Shopper claims that its retail network, located in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth, delivers 201% greater return on investment through animated content, drives a 28% increase in sales, and facilitates 81% spontaneous recognition of brands.

Shopper will become part of Cartology, the in-house Woolworths retail media business, which has more than 1,500 screens installed in the company’s 1,070 stores. It also runs campaigns through digital and print media, direct messaging, and social media, and operates a rewards programme.

“Shopper’s screen network offers advertisers outstanding retail context and proximity. Shopper has invested heavily in technology, helping the business pave the way for innovation in retail out of home media,” said Mike Tyquin, a managing director at Cartology, in a statement.

“The acquisition of the business is an important next step in further unlocking the growth potential of Cartology and accelerating our goal to become the trusted media partner of choice for brands and retailers. It will allow us to provide our clients more opportunities to reach their customers via seamless and targeted advertising solutions.”

Blue Sky, a listed investment manager with exposure to private equity, real estate, real assets, and hedge funds, was targeted by a short-selling firm in 2018, which alleged financial mismanagement. Three regulatory breaches were disclosed regarding incorrectly charged fees to wholesale private equity and real estate funds. Institutional funds and mandates were not impacted.

Oaktree Capital provided a structured debt rescue package after Blue Sky’s stock price collapsed, but this did not avert administration. Subsequently, Oaktree spun out the institutional real assets, growth capital, and venture capital businesses as Argyle Capital Partners, Fortitude, and January Capital, respectively. They operate under its special situations group.

The partners of Fortitude are Nick Dignam, formerly head of growth capital for Blue Sky Private Equity, and Nick Miller, previously an investment director in the same division.

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Trade sale
• Technology
• Media
• Australia
• Fortitude Investment Partners
• Blue Sky Private Equity
• Media