Independent marketing services group Sideshow has today acquired conversion rate optimisation specialist, Conversion.com, founded by CEO Stephen Pavlovich.

Sideshow is a digital communications group that has been quietly building scale in recent years through strong organic growth and by acquiring progressive and innovative marketing businesses without needing external investment.

The purchase of Conversion increases headcount to 250 and turnover to around £30M, positioning Sideshow alongside high growth marketing services groups.

International law firm Osborne Clarke acted for the shareholders of Conversion on the sale. The team was led by corporate partner and technology sector specialist Simon Jones, senior associate Elinor Owen and associate Becky Eade. The deal also involved partner Tracey Wright and associate Ben Doeh from the tax team, and associate director Laura Allum from the incentives team.

Conversion has a client list that includes Canon and Domino’s. It positions itself as an ‘experimentation’ agency that ‘improves customer experiences with data-driven experimentation’ and provides a range of conversion rate optimisation services covering personalisation and product and pricing experimentation.

Stephen Pavlovich, CEO at Conversion.com comments: “Culture has been one of the things that’s been really key to us as we’ve grown the business. In Sideshow we’ve found a partner with very similar values. We are joining a vibrant group of entrepreneurial companies who are completely independent, with a strong growth agenda and that is a very exciting proposition.”

Osborne Clarke advises some of the best and brightest businesses across the marketing services sector. It is widely recognised for its corporate expertise in this dynamic market and its track record advising on M&A deals across Europe.

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