Digital marketing communications and PR group Next 15 has acquired B2B digital agency Velocity Partners for an initial £5.9m. Velocity founders Doug Kessler and Stan Woods will remain in the business.

The deal will see around £4.9m satisfied in cash with 251,966 new ordinary shares in Next 15 making up the remainder. Further payments may be made up until 31 January 2022 depending on the average profits of Velocity each year up until then. These further payments could be settled in cash or up to 25 per cent in new ordinary shares.

“Data-driven content marketing is the fastest growing part of the marketing mix right now. This is a key area of investment for us going forward,” said Tim Dyson, CEO of Next 15. “Velocity has built an impressive business with a strong B2B focus that means it will placed to achieve its ambitions in the US and UK markets. At its core is a strong management team that shares our vision and values. We are very excited to work with them to help them achieve their plans.”

Velocity reported net revenues of £5.2m, adjusted profit before tax of £1.35m and net assets of £2.1m for the year ended 30 April 2017, and will be acquired debt-free. It also reported that 70 per cent of its revenues came from US-based clients, despite being a UK business.