On the heels of the announcement of its initial public offering (IPO), digital-first marketing agency One Great Studio (1GS) has announced the acquisition of High Voltage SEO (HVSEO), a high-growth US digital agency.

With a specialised focus on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), High Voltage SEO’s addition to the One Great Studio family promises a revolution in high-quality, systematised, and scalable SEO campaigns that deliver unparalleled results across the globe.

Incorporating a wealth of expertise, HVSEO excels in designing and executing SEO growth strategies backed by 400 scientific tests for business owners and marketing teams across the world. With widespread global experience, in the United States (US), Europe & Australia, the HVSEO team has demonstrated specialist expertise in industries such as multilanguage saas, fintech, e-commerce, crypto, national brands and manufacturing.

“One Great Studio was a customer-funded company with minimal debt for the last 10 years, only recently stepping into inorganic growth opportunities, with the strategic acquisition of HVSEO. It was a timely move to access and leverage the skills of a global team of experienced digital marketers with deep SEO knowledge, with well-defined systems and processes,”said Djuvane Browne, CEO of 1GS.

“HVSEO with its global hiring, recruiting and management base has bolstered 1GS’s structure, business growth model, and tech-driven excellence. Since the acquisition, we have already witnessed the increase in the company’s high-growth potential, and we are proud to say that the HVSEO founders have taken an equity position in 1GS and the management team has stayed in place,” he added.

Since acquiring the assets and operations of HVSEO, the SEO business line has added J$90.53 million to the total revenue for 1GS in just over three months (mid-September to December 2022). Post-acquisition, as at FYE 2022, SEO has become the largest contributor to revenue, while website and application development became its second largest source of revenue, and the remainder came from digital strategy and marketing and branding and creative.

Financed by Barita Investments Limited, the transaction was completed in September 2022 and included the successful transfer of HVSEO’s digital assets, including its ongoing team and client relationships. Additionally, the HVSEO owners assumed an equity position in 1GS.

Leading force

Senior vice-president, investment banking at Barita Investments, Terise Kettle, commented on the transaction. “Through strategic partnerships and a commitment to excellence and its ethos, Barita continues to drive the advancement of Jamaica’s business landscape while delivering value to our shareholders. The successful execution of this deal stands as a testament to our achievements,” she said.

For Kettle, “this milestone transaction reinforces our position as a leading force in the financial services industry as we continue to empower companies to realise their strategic imperatives. One of our objectives as an investment bank is to partner with our clients at each stage of their lifecycle. One Great Studio Company Limited has been a long-standing partner of Barita, so we were excited to be able to support the Company to enter the next phase of their lifecycle through the asset acquisition of the US-based HVSEO.”

The Barita senior executive added: “We believe this acquisition positions 1GS as a leading full-service digital-first agency with a significant competitive advantage in the marketplace. We are excited to continue to support 1GS along its journey as its strategic financial partner and to aid in supporting and strengthening Jamaica’s digital marketing industry.”

Since the transaction, 1GS has gained increased access to the global market to facilitate the cross-selling of its services. Now a wholly owned subsidiary, 1GS has expanded its service encompassing diversified services, including design, development, digital ad management and SEO. This allows the company to cater to a diverse client base and increase revenue streams.

“Going forward, our focus will be on scaling our SEO, websites and apps, digital strategy and marketing business lines, as we expect much of our near-term growth to be derived from these lines. Our website and application development business lines focus on building web and mobile assets for our clients, while our SEO, digital strategy and marketing business lines help to drive traffic to those assets and we optimise them over time for optimal business outcomes,” Browne outlined.

Great culture fit

The diversity and complementary nature of our business lines has enabled 1GS to be well-positioned as a full-service Digital-First Agency for our clients, which provides a competitive advantage in the market,” he added.

HVSEO’s co-founder, Andrew Steven, shared: “1GS was a great culture fit for us. At HVSEO, we care about our team and we wanted to ensure that they would be in good hands. Since the acquisition, we still have family and friends currently working daily in the agency. We are proud to be shareholders of 1GS, our position in 1GS is strategic. It allows us to focus on growing our other businesses while maintaining an interest in the agency which is synergistic in nature to those businesses. We are impressed by the business acumen of the 1GS Team. They have and continue to demonstrate a proven track record of success and experience in the industry, as well as a scalable business model. We are excited about the future of HVSEO and 1GS.”

HVSEO is globally utilised across the US, Europe, Asia, and now Jamaica. HVSEO scales its involvement to suit the needs of the client utilising their campaign managers to handle content creation, on-page optimisation, link building and technical SEO.