Bridgepoint first acquired the Birmingham-headquartered business eight years ago from Isis Equity Partners, in a £28m deal aimed at expanding ITG’s international reach.

In 2018 it exited from the investment and sold it to Equistone Partners Europe, with ITG planning a big push into the US market at the time.

ITG has since rebranded as ‘Team ITG’.

Bridgepoint has now acquired a majority stake back from Equistone “to deliver the next phase of Team ITG's development internationally, focused on US growth with its cloud-based marketing technology and marketing services”.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

ITG CEO Simon Ward commented: "We would like to thank Equistone for its fantastic support in developing our business over the past four years. And now, our relationship with Bridgepoint is another brilliant milestone in our journey as we grow globally. We have the team and the resources to deliver even more powerful results for our clients across the world while also developing a host of exciting new partnerships.”

Bridgepoint partner and co-head of its UK investment activities Emma Watford described Team  ITG’s software offering as “compelling”.

“It operates in a very large, growing and fragmented market that benefits from the increasing need for automation driven by the shift to digital and personalised marketing. We’re excited to be backing the team at a crucial time as they scale their technology offering and become increasingly global – areas where we can provide the necessary expertise to accompany them on this next stage in their journey,” she said. 

Although Equistone has sold its majority stake, it has also reinvested in ITG through its Reinvestment Fund. 

In its most recent results, for the pandemic-impacted year to 31 August 2021, sales at ITG were effectively flat at £119.1m. 

Of that, nearly £102m of sales originated in the UK, with approaching £14m of business from the European Union and £2m of sales coming from America and Canada.

The group posted a big increase in operating profits at £9.16m (2020: £2.54m), although the prior year figure was reduced by a £4.85m write-off in inter-company balances.

It also received £1.14m in government support via the CJRS furlough scheme (2020: £2.9m in support).

Team ITG clients include M&S, Jaguar Land Rover, Puma, Currys and Virgin Media. 

The business has more than 1,000 employees across the UK, Europe and America.

Ward also worked with Bridgepoint back in the days of SP Group, which he sold to St Ives in 2004.