West Sussex digital agency Chillibyte acquired by Broadlight Group

By Stephen Emerson

30 November 2022

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Chillibyte has been acquired by the Broadlight Group in a move to bolster its capabilities.

The Surrey-based firm say the acquisition will expand its team to 65 specialists and enhance its B2B marketing capabilities and boost the group’s ability to deliver a broad range of services to a growing client base.

The deals follow Broadlight Group’s recent purchases of specialist PPC and Facebook agency, Pixal, in March this year and multi-discipline agency Generate UK in December 2021.

Kate Steel, Operations Director at Broadlight Group, said: "This acquisition represents another important milestone in our ambitious growth strategy, broadening our expertise and enhancing our service offering. Chillibyte has built a fantastic reputation in the market and we believe it is a strong strategic fit within the Group given its diverse client base, experience and culture."

Founded by Sam Trousdale and Tim Watney in 2013, Chillibyte - which is based in Horsham, is a specialist digital marketing agency specialising in SEO, paid search campaigns, web design and development. Chillibyte works with a range of clients from small local companies to larger national PLC’s.

Broadlight Group Limited, based in Kingston upon Thames, was founded in 2020 and operates as a group of agencies who offer digital marketing services. Broadlight offers its services to a range of clients from ambitious start-ups to established enterprises.

PDT Solicitors provided legal support for the deal which was led by Sian Webber (Corporate) assisted by Laura McMaster (Employment), Ian Lindley (Commercial), Craig Burton (Real Estate) and Amrit Virdee (Corporate).

Tim Watney, Chillibyte founder, said: "PDT have supported our business for many years and seemed the obvious choice for advisers when we were looking to sell. This was an unfamiliar process for us, but we felt supported and guided through the process. Thank you to Sian and the PDT team for all their hard work and support in getting this sale over the line"

Funding for the acquisitions as provided by ThinCats (Dave Sherrington). Debt advisory support was provided to Broadlight by Dan Barrett and Adam Agius at Altenburg Advisory.

Further legal advice on the transaction was provided by Sarah Harrison and Philip Dine acting on behalf of Clarion Solicitors

Dave Sherrington, Head of Private Equity at Thicats, said: “We are delighted to be supporting Broadlight’s ambitious buy and build strategy and this latest acquisition adds another fantastic agency to the group. Broadlight is fast becoming a force in the B2B marketing space and we are excited to be on this journey with them.”

Financial Due Diligence on the acquisition of Chillibyte was provided by Nick Thompson and his team at Moore Kingston Smith.

Picture credit: iStock

By Stephen Emerson

Stephen Emerson is the Managing Editor of The Business Magazine and is responsible for the publication's print publications and online properties including the newly launched Biz News websites in Hampshire and Dorset.

Stephen has been a journalist for 20 years and has worked at local, regional and national publications and led a team which made The Scotsman website one of the fastest growing news sites in the UK with over eight million monthly users.

He has a keen interest in technology, property and corporate finance and telling the stories of the people behind the successful firms in these sectors.