The Marketing Practice announces APAC expansion plans with acquisition of Rombii

The Marketing Practice has acquired APAC-based ABM, demand and media specialists Rombii. It’s the company’s first acquisition in the region and its fifth in the last 18 months, making it the largest B2B tech marketing specialist in the world.

The acquisition of Rombii will enable East Hendred, Oxfordshire-based The Marketing Practice to accelerate its growth across APAC following the success of its Sydney offices, which launched in January 2021. Through this latest acquisition, The Marketing Practice adds to its market-leading demand generation and ABM portfolio and will now employ over 80 people in Australia and Singapore.

Coming quickly after recent acquisitions in North America and EMEA, the acquisition of Rombii is another step in The Marketing Practice’s ambition to create a world-beating growth platform for B2B globally.

The combined group has a strong track record of delivering pan-APAC programmes and this acquisition will enable operations to gather substantial pace across the breadth of the region.

Rombii will provide further capabilities to The Marketing Practice in media, data, audience insight and sales activation. With offices in Singapore and Sydney, it reflects a significant investment in the APAC market. For Rombii, becoming part of The Marketing Practice offers its clients global scale and delivery.

The Marketing Practice will now employ over 500 people worldwide, representing the next milestone in the first phase of the company’s growth and firmly establishing its capabilities for providing a truly global end-to-end offering for its clients.

Rombii’s founder Sam Howell and its managing director Marcus Wilkinson will remain in their roles. Rombii joins US-based Campaign Stars and 90octane alongside Kingpin and Omobono, all of which were acquired in the last 18 months and will fall under The Marketing Practice brand.

Backed by Horizon Capital, The Marketing Practice is bringing together the very best in specialist B2B marketing in a fully integrated strategy, helping clients take more accountability for growth and revenue impact, so that marketing becomes the “engine room for growth” in B2B businesses.

Matt Harper (left), CEO of The Marketing Practice, said: “Rombii has an excellent track record and a reputation for great customer service across APAC. By joining forces we can give clients across both businesses access to a richer set of skills and capability, both locally within APAC and in global programmes.”

Sam Howell, Founder of Rombii, added: “This acquisition will enable us to further invest in the breadth and skills of our people and to immediately expand and deepen our coverage across the region. We can now offer clients end-to-end marketing services with global capability while maintaining a focus on providing strong client service at a local level and in native languages."

Marcus Wilkinson, Managing Director of Rombii, said: “One of The Marketing Practice’s ongoing objectives is to also be the best place to build a career in B2B marketing. We view becoming part of this organisation as a huge investment in our people and we couldn’t be more excited about the leadership opportunities and support they’ll receive, particularly in Singapore and other key markets.”

Luke Kingston, Partner at Horizon Capital, added: “Following such an exciting organic growth journey and active acquisition trail over the course of the last 18 months, The Marketing Practice’s first APAC acquisition represents another significant milestone for the group. Having already firmly established itself a successful entity in Australia with the launch of The Marketing Practice’s Sydney office last year, Rombii will enable the agency to take its operations to the next level in the region.”