We partnered with Grant Rule in 2018, initially acquiring a 30% shareholding in MessageMedia before increasing our ownership to 42% to facilitate a broader shareholder register simplification.

At the time of our investment, MessageMedia had established itself as ANZ’s leading business messaging company, serving more than 20,000 customers. The business had grown both organically and through M&A, operating across multiple brands and legacy technology platforms. We saw an opportunity to simplify the operating model, strengthen the leadership team, and reposition the company for its next phase of  growth through product investment and a strategic focus on the US market.

Working closely with Grant and the management team, we helped reshape the strategic direction of the business with a clear focus on scaling into the US market and evolving MessageMedia from an SMS provider into a leading customer engagement platform. This transformation included a large-scale migration onto a unified modern technology stack, a significant rebuild of the executive leadership team, expansion of sales and marketing capability, and the execution of a focused M&A strategy, including three strategic bolt-on acquisitions to strengthen the company’s US presence and support the continued evolution of the platform.

Through this partnership, MessageMedia grew to more than 70,000 customers globally and became the world’s leading SME messaging platform.

In 2021, we led a successful sale process resulting in the acquisition of MessageMedia by Swedish cloud communications company Sinch for approximately A$1.7 billion, delivering an outstanding outcome for all shareholders.