LONDON: Elixirr International plc (AIM: ELIX) announced the acquisition by its US subsidiary, Elixirr Inc. of all of the issued and outstanding membership interests of Hypothesis Group LLC for a maximum consideration payable of US$45.0 million.

The Board is also pleased to update its guidance for the financial year ending 31 December 2024 (“FY24”) to reflect its current expectation including c.2 months’ impact of the Acquisition. The Board’s current expectation is that full year FY24 revenue will be in the range of £108m – £111m.

Previous Adjusted EBITDA margin guidance for FY24 of 27-29% is maintained, inclusive of the dilutive effect of Hypothesis’ lower EBITDA margin at acquisition.

Hypothesis is a US-based insights and strategy firm founded in 2000. Its 60+ personnel are specialised in research, strategic insights and design and have experience supporting some of the world’s largest and best-known brands as strategic thought partners.

Hypothesis CEO Maria Vallis joins the Group as an Elixirr Partner, with incentives aligned to the growth of Hypothesis’ revenue and EBITDA over the three years post-acquisition.

These incentives will ensure the continued motivation of Hypothesis management. In line with other Elixirr Partners, Maria will purchase Ordinary Shares equal to a value of £500,000 from the EBT at the Company’s closing share price on 21 October.

The Ordinary Shares will be subject to a one-year lock-in arrangement and limitations on the Ordinary Shares that Maria Vallis can sell in each of the following four years under a nominee agreement.

Founder & CEO of Elixirr, Stephen Newton said: “We first met the Hypothesis team about 18 months ago, and the opportunity to join forces has consistently excited us ever since those very first discussions.

With our challenger DNA and focus on high performance, both Elixirr and Hypothesis are premium brands that work with premium clients. The acquisition will further solidify the strong reputation we’ve been building and bring rigour to our research and insights offering. We’re excited to welcome Maria Vallis to the Partner team as we accelerate our growth in the US. Her esteemed reputation – trusted by a high calibre of clients across additive and complementary industries – will make her a great addition to the team. Maria and Hypothesis’ expertise will help us solidify the strong reputation we’ve been building in the US market, which remains a key priority for us.”

CEO of Hypothesis, Maria Vallis said: “The Hypothesis team is excited to join forces with the Elixirr Group as we’re now able to take our insights and recommendations further and can do more to solve our clients’ business issues. Considering that Hypothesis was founded with the goal of disrupting the research and insights industry, it was important to us to join a firm who had similar ethos. We believe that we have found this with Elixirr.

The combination of capabilities between Hypothesis and the Elixirr Group is really powerful and will enable us to deliver even more impact to our collective client base. Elixirr’s strong expertise across different verticals, including financial services, healthcare and insurance, alongside the ability to add strategy, digital, data, AI and innovation capabilities to our skillset is really exciting to us and we look forward to seeing what our teams can accomplish together.”

Co-Founders of Hypothesis, Maria Stark and Jeff Seltzer said: “Nearly 25 years ago, we started a new kind of agency that embraced creativity and empowered our people to do great work for great clients. We’re extremely proud of what we built, and what we accomplished with the help of the industry’s best and brightest people. It’s been incredible to watch the next generation of Hypothesis leadership evolve and grow the company while still embracing our original founding vision. Today, the transition is complete, and we’re truly excited to watch Hypothesis and Elixirr disrupt and challenge the industry, and to continue helping the world’s best brands do amazing things.”