PE Deals

Inflexion sells stake in The Goat Agency

WPP, a marketing and communications firm, has bought Goat.

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  • The Goat Agency is a social media marketing company
  • Inflexion made a minority investment in Goat in 2021
  • Goat has since expanded globally, with a focus on the North America market

Mid-market private equity firm Inflexion has signed a deal to sell its stake in The Goat Agency, a social media marketing company, to marketing and communications firm WPP.

The IRR was 80 percent, according to market sources.

Goat focuses on data-led end-to-end influencer marketing campaigns and was founded in 2015.  It has offices in London, New York and Singapore. It works with brands including Dell, Meta and Tesco, according to a release.

Inflexion made a “significant” minority investment in Goat in 2021. Since then, Goat has expanded, with a focus on the North America market. Inflexion worked to embed technology and data into Goat’s offering.

The deal is the first exit from Inflexion’s Enterprise Fund V, its lower mid-market fund.

Inflexion makes majority and minority investments, typically investing £10 million ($12 million; €11 million) to £400m of equity. It has offices in London, Manchester and Amsterdam.

WPP is headquartered in London and has offices in New York, Singapore and Hong Kong.