iCreate Limited has entered an agreement to acquire 100 per cent interest in Ideas Execution Limited, a move that will see the company furthering the execution of its “aggressive” mergers and acquisition (M&A) strategy and strengthening its advertising division.

Once the cash and stock deal has received the rubber stamp of shareholders and regulators, Ideas Execution founder Kevin Frith will hold a top-10 shareholding stake in iCreate. Moreover, he will continue to have day-to-day decision-making authority in Ideas Execution as executive chairman.

“We will be looking to hire a CEO who will work closely with him to understand the company…but Kevin will still continue to drive the strategic vision of the company,” iCreate founder and CEO Tyrone Wilson told the Jamaica Observer.

According to a release from iCreate, the acquisition of Ideas Execution by iCreate fits perfectly with its M&A strategy, which seeks to fulfil the company’s vision of becoming a leader within the creative and digital economies in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean region.

Frith touts the company as having a proven track record in maximising the visibility of major brands and, in response to greater demand as pandemic-related restrictions ease, has increased its capacity to support brand-building projects and business development services utilising community bars and wholesale grocery businesses.

“It will also add a lot of synergies across the iCreate Group with just the market network that an Ideas Execution has managing and working with,” Wilson added, noting that Ideas Execution is in the process of branding some 500 bars across Jamaica as part of a contract with Grupo Campari.

To support this development, iCreate has plans to build a manufacturing and assembling plant at Dunoon Road in East Kingston to accommodate the requests for branded items.

Looking at the financial impact of the deal, Wilson said the acquisition will be a “big boost” to iCreate’s revenue, which range between $250 million and $300 million. He, however, avoided providing a guestimate as to the percentage increase in the company’s bottom and top lines he anticipates the new addition will bring to the iCreate portfolio.

Notwithstanding, he believes the growth of the company augurs well for its pending graduation from the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, noting that it “will justify us being on the Main Market, so we’re excited about that”.

With regards to Ideas Execution’s relationship with Grupo Campari, Wilson also pointed out the potential to increase revenues given the spirit distributors’ reach in the Caribbean. iCreate estimates the value of contract between Ideas Execution and Grupo Campari has generated over $1 billion since 2013.

“We are now operating in Trinidad and Tobago, executing bar and wholesale branding for Campari. We have set up operations there with two team members at management level from our Jamaican office transferred there and so far we have contracted 10 Trinidadians for the executions,” Firth told Business Observer of Ideas Execuction’s growth trajectory.

“Since November 2022 we have successfully executed 25 outlets. We are negotiating with some other large players in that market for other executions that we expect to come on stream by the third quarter of 2023,” he added.

Frith also shared that the company has set its sights on other Caribbean markets, such as Belize, Barbados, St Lucia, Grenada, Suriname, Puerto Rico, The Bahamas, and St Maarten.