New Zealand-based mobile marketing agency The Hyperfactory has been bought by US firm Meredith Corporation, a year after Meredith took a 20 per cent stake in the company. Meredith owns 12 TV stations, publishes 23 magazines, and has around 150 books in print. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, though the TVNZ website reports it at 70m dollars in cash. If they are talking New Zealand dollars, this would equate to $50.3m US, or £33m.
The Hyperfactory was created by brothers Derek and Geoffrey Handley in 2001. It has offices in Auckland, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Hong Kong, Sydney and Hyderabad, India. Clients include Coca-Cola, BlackBerry, LOreal, Vodafone and Disney. Derek Handley says he intends to use his share of the cash to encourage the next wave of New Zealand entrepreneurs, and to pursue his dream of going into space. 

In the past year, the two companies have joined forces to offer mobile marketing solutions to companies and brands such as Kraft, Nestle and Honda. The Hyperfactory has also developed mobile platforms for Meredith’s Better Homes and Gardens, Parents and Fitness brands.

“The completion of our acquisition of Hyperfactory is consistent with Meredith’s commitment to excellence in marketing services for our clients,” says Meredith integrated marketing president, Martin Reidy. “Mobile is a critical part of the marketing portfolio and its importance is growing at an incredibly rapid rate. As with our past acquisitions, like New Media Strategies in the social media space, we focus our investments only on the leaders in the respective marketing disciplines. Hyperfactory is the clear leader in the mobile marketing arena and we are proud to have them as part of our arsenal.”