Dods Group PLC has acquired 30% of the enlarged issued share capital of Social360 Limited

Dods Group PLC is pleased to announce it has acquired and subscribed for 30% of the enlarged issued share capital of Social360 Limited for £1.65 million in cash.

Founded in 2009 by communications professionals, Social360 provides comprehensive social media monitoring and intelligence for corporate communications and public affairs. Its proprietary search and categorisation technology filters out social media noise and highlights specific insights, providing a single reference point for corporate executives who require, fast, accurate and easily digestible intelligence.

Dods and Social360 share a common view of the corporate communications marketplace. In particular, both share a dedication to providing critical information services on a real-time, daily and weekly basis which are comprehensive and highly tailored. Following the transaction, the Group will be launching Dods Social Intelligence.

The Board of Dods believes that there is a significant opportunity for cross selling services into both Social360's and Dods' existing client bases as well as targeting new clients with the enlarged product portfolio. The transaction will also create the ability to collaborate on the development of further products to complement the combined offering.

The acquisition includes a contractual option for the Company, at its sole discretion, to purchase the balance of the current existing shares between 24 and 36 months from completion, at a valuation based upon Social360's prevailing EBITDA.

Cheryl Jones, Chairman of Dods, commented:

"We are delighted to welcome the Social360 team, led by co-founders Ryszard Bublik (CEO) and Robert Herridge (CTO), both of whom have a clear and strong vision for the delivery of social media monitoring and analysis. Their vision for their company's core capabilities and international reach is in keeping with the trends and changing market requirements seen by the Board of Dods."

Ryszard Bublik, CEO of Social360 Limited, commented:

"This partnership will see Social360 become the engine behind Dods' social media monitoring offering as well as enabling us to invest in our core technology and new products and markets. The combination of our cutting-edge and innovative technological approach and Dods' reputation and commercial reach will create a powerful proposition for our target markets. 

"Social360 helps time-poor clients make sure that they're kept up to date with what's being said about their brand or organisation wherever it appears on the social web in a format that works for them - on email, via a dashboard, in real time or through edited, scheduled reports.  We share with Dods the view that the ever-increasing volume of brand and reputation-critical social media content has meant that the outsourcing of social media listening is becoming the norm and identifying the right partners to deliver the best outsourced solution is critical."