Global retail marketing firm TCC Global acquires online retailing specialist

TCC Global, a global retail marketing company which turned over €500m in 2015, has acquired online retailing specialist Summit.

Summit, which turned over £47m in the same year, was advised on the deal by Livingstone and will retain its established brand and existing senior management team.

Founded in 1991 by the group’s chairman Richard Beatti, TCC Global runs campaigns in more than 70 countries, operating from 34 offices around the world.

Among its clients are a wide range of international retailers such as Tesco, Carrefour, Lidl, Aldi, Woolworths Australia and 7-Eleven.

Summit was launched Yorkshire in 2000 by CEO and founder Hedley Aylott, and has grown to over 160 staff in three locations across Europe, including base in Willerby near Hull.

The retail specialist, which boasts a list of clients including Jaguar Land Rover, Peugeot, Argos, Reckitt Benckiser and Carpetright, brings the state-of-the-art marketing intelligence platform Forecaster.

Developed by Summit in 2015, Forecaster draws data from a diverse range of sources and applies statistical models to predict the sales from any given online marketing spend.

Hedley Aylott, co-founder and CEO of Summit, said: “The marriage of TCC Global and Summit will help revolutionise the way we shop: together, we are going to take knowhow from the most digitally sophisticated market, the UK, across the globe.

“This knowledge, which Summit has, will help TCC Global to deliver even more powerful campaigns for its clients.

“Summit’s stronghold of experts and founders, who have been here since the company’s dawn and still remain, will continue on this journey alongside TCC Global, and I wouldn’t go global with anyone else.”

Perry Valkenburg, CEO of TCC Global, added: “Shopper understanding is central to TCC Global’s ethos. In the new world of retail, where bricks, clicks and commerce fully integrate, it is more important than ever to provide the best possible solutions and ones that address the whole value chain.

“We are adding more digital engagement platforms to TCC Global’s portfolio, so Summit’s expertise in online retail and data analytics will be hugely valuable. As a combined force we can deliver unrivalled expertise to the retail market.

“This is a further innovation to support our customers, following our acquisition of Gametation, the leading digital gamification company, in 2015. A focus of Summit’s expansion is to grow its operations globally.

“This fits perfectly with our vision to assist our clients in retaining and rewarding their best customers, attracting new shoppers and developing digital engagement platforms to ultimately unlock the power of data and create tailored marketing solutions across the entire online and offline value chain.”