Kin + Carta

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Kin and Carta plc
Kin + Carta
FormerlySt Ives
Company typePublic
LSE: KCT
IndustryDigital transformation consultancy
Founded1964; 60 years ago (1964) in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, UK[1]
FounderRobert Gavron[1]
Headquarters
London
,
United Kingdom
Key people
Kelly Manthey, CEO[2]
Chris Kutsor, CFO
RevenueDecrease £195.9 million (2023)[3]
Decrease £18.5 million (2023)[3]
Decrease £(18.8) million (2023)[3]
Subsidiaries
  • Spire Digital
  • Melon
  • Frakton
  • Loop Integration
  • Forecast
  • Cascade Data Labs
Websitekinandcarta.com

Kin + Carta is an international digital transformation consultancy company with headquarters in London, UK. Originally founded in 1964 as printer St Ives, it grew to be the UK's leading print company by the 1980s.[4] It shifted focus away from the struggling print industry during the 2010s and rebranded as Kin + Carta in 2018. In 2021 it became the first company traded on the London Stock Exchange to be certified as a B Corporation.[5]

History[edit]

Printing company St Ives was founded in 1964 by Robert Gavron. Then a lawyer, he borrowed £5,000 (equivalent to £94,000 or US$120,000 in 2019)[6] to purchase a failing publishing company and renamed it after the town where it was located, St Ives, Cambridgeshire. The company grew over the next 30 years to become the foremost U.K. commercial printer, acquiring Clays and other rivals along the way.[7][8] It was first listed on the LSE in 1985 and reached a market value of £400 million (US$550 million) in 1993.[9]

St Ives expanded into the U.S. with the acquisition of commercial printer A.D. Weiss in 1989, and then later into European markets with German direct mail firm Johler Druck. In 1993 Gavron retired as company chairman, though he still held considerable interest, and was replaced by Miles Emley.[7]

In the 21st century St Ives began a serious decline along with the rest of the printing industry due to the rise of digital media, reporting its first loss in 2009.[10][11] It then undertook a large series of acquisitions in the digital technology space, attempting to diversify away from print. The first purchase was digital marketing and data company Occam in 2010. The 80-staff firm was acquired for about £12 million.[12]

St Ives acquired Chicago-based software consultancy Solstice Mobile for £23 million.[13] Solstice had been founded in 2001 by John "J" Schwan and named to University of Illinois at Chicago’s Chicago Area Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame in 2013.[14] Schwan became St Ives' first chief digital officer at the time of the merger and in 2018 took over the CEO position from Matt Armitage.[15][16] Also in that year the firm sold all its remaining print operations and rebranded as Kin + Carta, said to represent "connection and collaboration".[17][18]

In October 2023, Kelvin UK Bidco, a newly-formed UK company, owned by the private equity firm Apax Partners, offered to acquire Kin + Carta for £203 million.[19][20]

Acquisition history
Year Company Industry Price (£) Price after inflation Ref
1983 Severn Valley Press [21]
1986 Clays Limited Book printing [4]
1987 Burrups Limited Financial printing [21]
1989 A.D. Weiss Printing Commercial printing [21]
1995 Johler Druck Direct mail [21]
1996 Perlmuter Printing Direct mail [22]
1998 Hunters Armley Direct mail 33m 62m [23]
2000 Packard Press Financial printing [21]
2000 Global Financial Financial printing [24]
2001 Avanti/Case-Hoyt Commercial printing 29m 51m [22]
2004 SP Group Point-of-sale printing 37m 60m [25]
2010 Occam Digital marketing and data 12m 16m [26]
2011 Response One Data marketing 19m 25m [27][28]
2011 Pragma Consulting 6m 8m [29]
2012 Incite Research consulting 17m 21m [30]
2013 Amaze Digital marketing 25m 30m [31]
2013 Branded3 Search and digital 25m 30m [32]
2014 Realise Digital marketing 40m 48m [33]
2015 Solstice Mobile Consulting 23m 27m [34]
2016 The App Business Mobile 50m 58m [35]
2019 Spire Digital Software development 12m 12m [36]
2020 Cascade Data Labs Data science 22m 23m [37]
2021 Octain Artificial intelligence [38]
2022 Loop Integration E-commerce [39]
2022 Melon Digital transformation 24m [40]
2023 Forecast Data Data services 3m [41]

Culture[edit]

Kin + Carta describes its purpose as "to make the world work better for everyone", and to this end has adopted a triple bottom line strategy. In 2021 it became the first company traded on the London Stock Exchange to be certified as a B Corporation,[5] and in 2022 became one of the 50 companies participating in the environmentalism initiative Vision 2045.[42] Kin + Carta also became a member of the MACH Alliance in 2022, advocating for accessibility, inclusivity, and sustainability in the digital space.[43]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Barker, Nicolas. "Lord Gavron of Highgate: Printing tycoon with keen sense of social justice whose support for Labour was rewarded with a peerage". independent.co.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Kelly Manthey succeeds J Schwan as CEO of Kin + Carta". Consulting.us. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Annual Results 2023" (PDF). Kin + Carta. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  4. ^ a b Hamilton, Annette (7 May 2018). "Elcograf S.p.A. to acquire Clays Ltd". MetaPrintArt. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Kin + Carta becomes first B Corp accredited LSE business". Consultancy.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  6. ^ United Kingdom Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth "consistent series" supplied in Thomas, Ryland; Williamson, Samuel H. (2018). "What Was the U.K. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  7. ^ a b "ST. IVES INC. AVANTI HISTORY". Zippia. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  8. ^ Faulkner, Doug (1 May 2018). "Printer Clays which produced Harry Potter series sold to European group". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  9. ^ Burgess, Kate (12 February 2017). "Stock market loses patience with St Ives". Financial Times. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  10. ^ "St Ives ditches print heritage to rebrand as Kin + Carta". Decision Marketing. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  11. ^ Francis, Jo (19 October 2009). "St Ives posts first loss in its stock exchange history". Printweek. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  12. ^ Danielli, Darryl (1 June 2010). "St Ives boosts direct marketing offering with 12m Occam deal". Printweek. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  13. ^ Pletz, John (17 March 2015). "Sun shines on Solstice in $35 million acquisition". Chicago Business. Crain's. Archived from the original on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  14. ^ "Solstice Mobile Recognized for Innovation and Entrepreneurship; Expands Leadership Team". Business Wire. Berkshire Hathaway. 4 April 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  15. ^ Sentance, Rebecca (6 November 2018). "A day in the life of… CEO at Kin + Carta". Econsultancy. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  16. ^ "Founder of Solstice, J Schwan, Named St Ives New CEO". PR Newswire. Cision. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  17. ^ Francis, Jo (1 May 2018). "End of printing era for St Ives as Clays is sold". Printweek. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  18. ^ Bainbridge, Jane. "ST IVES RENAMES TO KIN + CARTA". Research Live. Archived from the original on 21 September 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  19. ^ Symcox, Jonathan (2023-10-18). "£203m private equity takeover at Kin and Carta plc". BusinessCloud. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
  20. ^ "Kirkland Steers PE Giant Apax's £203M Bid For UK Tech Firm - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
  21. ^ a b c d e Francis, Jo (23 July 2018). "So long, St Ives". Printweek. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  22. ^ a b Cagle, Erik (1 November 2001). "ST IVES' U.S. DIVISION -- Adding to the Equation". Printing Impressions. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  23. ^ "The sorry tale of global MP comes to an ignominious end". Print Weekly. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  24. ^ "Company Results: ST IVES - Printer - FAIRLY PRICED - SIV". Investors' Chronicle. 19 April 2001. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  25. ^ Francis, Jo (13 September 2004). "St Ives snaps up SP Group". Printweek. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  26. ^ Danielli, Darryl (1 June 2010). "St Ives boosts direct marketing offering with 12m Occam deal". Printweek. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  27. ^ "Response One takeover completed by St Ives". The Drum. 15 September 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  28. ^ Nias, Simon (14 September 2011). "St Ives extends data offering with Response One buy". Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  29. ^ "ST IVES GROUP ACQUIRES INSIGHT AGENCY PRAGMA". Research Live. 25 September 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  30. ^ Hooker, Adam (29 February 2012). "St Ives announces Incite acquisition". Printweek. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  31. ^ Francis, Jo (11 March 2013). "St Ives in 25m digital marketing buy". Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  32. ^ "Branded3 acquired by St Ives Group". Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  33. ^ Jordan, Hannah (3 March 2014). "St Ives announces £40m digital marketing acquisition". Printweek. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  34. ^ Pletz, John (17 March 2015). "Sun shines on Solstice in $35 million acquisition". Chicago Business. Crain's. Archived from the original on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  35. ^ "St Ives goes mobile once more in £50m acquisition". Decision Marketing. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  36. ^ "Kin + Carta gets back in the saddle with $15m US deal". Decision Marketing. 25 November 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  37. ^ "Acquisition of Cascade Data Labs". Financial Times. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  38. ^ "Kin + Carta Acquires AI Solution Octain". Global Newswire. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  39. ^ "Flurry of Kin + Carta acquisitions power growth on both sides of the Atlantic". The Drum. 22 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  40. ^ "Kin and Carta plc completed the acquisition of Melon, Inc. from management of Melon and other investors". Market Screener. 9 May 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  41. ^ Gooding, Matthew (9 May 2023). "Kin + Carta snaps up data services provider Forecast Data". Tech Monitor. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  42. ^ "Momentum grows around the Vision 2045 campaign for cleaner business". Bloomberg. 20 April 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  43. ^ "MACH Alliance Nears 60 Members with Latest Wave of New Joiners". MACH Alliance. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
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