Imagine Print Solutions said Monday it is acquiring a California-based advertising and marketing firm.
Under the deal announced Monday, Midnight Oil Agency, a Burbank firm with 287 employees, will become an independently operated subsidiary of Shakopee-based Imagine, a visual marketing material producer, by fall. The deal allows Imagine to widen its range of services and expand to new markets, said Chris White, Imagine's senior vice president for sales and marketing.
"Midnight Oil brings a creative, design and media front end to our company that's been a request of our clients for some time, and it actually further broadens our offerings in that space," White said.
Midnight Oil also brings a clientele of gaming and entertainment giants, including Disney, Netflix and Sony Pictures Television, which makes it an attractive addition, Imagine CEO John Hans said in a news release.
"Adding Midnight Oil's creative capabilities, its talented team and its leadership position in the gaming and entertainment industries to Imagine's capabilities and network make this a partnership built for success," he said.
Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close by the end of September, according to the news release.
Expansion through acquisition is a familiar strategy for Imagine. In December 2013 it announced the purchase of two North Carolina-based companies, Classic Graphics and Creative Marketing Solutions. Two years earlier, Imagine acquired Digigraphics of Minneapolis. Last year, Imagine and its subsidiaries generated about $336 million in revenue. It employs 1,600 people, including about 900 in Shakopee.
In January, New York private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners acquired Imagine for an undisclosed amount. In May, Oak replaced founder Bob Lothenbach, who had served as CEO since Imagine's founding in 1988, with Hans, a former fast food supply chain executive.
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