RBA Consulting to Acquire Digital Marketing Technology Firm, Ratchet

MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- RBA Consulting, a nationally-recognized technology firm with headquarters in Minneapolis, announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ratchet, Inc., a Minneapolis-based technology firm specializing in digital marketing solutions.

Ratchet has 42 employees, earned approximately $5M in revenue in 2010 and serves clients throughout the Midwest including Chicago-based Navistar and several Fortune 500 corporations headquartered in the Twin Cities. Co-founded by Rick Born and Mike Reinhart, RBA Consulting has 183 employees in its three markets, Minneapolis, Dallas and Denver, with 110 employees based out of its Minneapolis office.  RBA's 2010 revenue was $19.4M, which earned the company the 219th spot on the 2010 Inc. 500 List of the Fastest Growing Private Companies.  RBA serves mid-market to enterprise clients including several Fortune 500 corporations headquartered in Minneapolis.

The deal is expected to close on September 1st. Upon execution of the agreement, Ratchet will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of RBA, Inc.  The combined company of 225 employees will expand its offerings in the digital marketing to include web, social and mobile applications, and offer comprehensive services in technology strategy, application development and measurement, collaboration, cloud computing, data management and business intelligence solutions, becoming one of the largest technology consulting and services providers in the Twin Cities. Revenue for the combined company is expected to be $35M at the end of their fiscal year, December 2011.

"We have been monitoring the direction of our industry and determining the best path to define new growth opportunities for our company which include expansion into the Digital Marketing and mobile technology service areas," stated Mike Reinhart, RBA President and COO. "In order to keep up with the rapid pace of the market, we needed to align with a firm that already has deep expertise, a strong reputation and solid client relationships.  Ratchet brings these attributes and aligns well with RBA's culture."

These aligned goals, shared philosophy and the explosive growth of mobile and social applications, led RBA to acquire Ratchet and leverage its position as a leading provider of marketing technology services; a timely union with research by companies such as Morgan Stanley showing mobile internet usage eclipsing the desktop in terms of the number of users at approximately 1.7 billion worldwide by 2014.

The leaders of RBA and Ratchet have had a relationship for many years. The founder of Ratchet, Martin Davis, previously worked at RBA's predecessor, Born Information Services, and has built Ratchet upon the same foundation and core values that helped make Born and now RBA successful.  

"We are excited to join forces with RBA. RBA's deep IT expertise and Ratchet's strong marketing relationships will result in a unique combination which enables us to expand our capabilities and be an end-to-end provider of technology solutions for Twin Cities businesses," stated Martin Davis, Founder and President of Ratchet.

While a long term branding strategy for this newly formed partnership is still being determined, Martin Davis will be the General Manager of Digital Marketing and will report directly to RBA President and COO, Mike Reinhart. The Ratchet employees will continue to report to Davis and work from their office in downtown Minneapolis but will support client engagements in all of RBA's markets.

About Ratchet, Inc.

Founded in 2004, Ratchet is a digital marketing solutions company that understands the pivotal role of digital in today's marketing world.  Partnering with clients to turn innovative ideas into web, mobile and social solutions, Ratchet starts by understanding their client's marketing objectives and crafts intuitive and measureable user experiences that deliver on those goals.  From establishing a technology strategy to identifying the tools, tactics and partners needed to deliver – Ratchet brings interactive strategy and best-practices to the forefront of the conversation delivering the right solution, every time.  For more information, www.ratchet.com.

About RBA Consulting

RBA Consulting is an award-winning, nationally-recognized Microsoft Partner and Microsoft National Systems Integrator with offices in Minneapolis, Dallas and Denver. RBA offers a complete range of Application Development, Portals and Collaboration, Infrastructure/Messaging, Cloud Computing and Business Intelligence solutions to clients ranging from mid-market to enterprise. Currently on Inc. 500's List of the country's fastest-growing private companies and consistently named a Best Place to Work, RBA's entrepreneurial spirit combined with its challenging and rewarding employment experience attract the industry's top thought leaders and technical talent. For more information, visit www.rbaconsulting.com.

Media Inquiries: Jenna Soule, Director of Marketing
[email protected]; (o) 952-460-1578; (m) 612-799-3542

Tara Walker, VP of Strategic Services
[email protected]; (o) 612-460-2272; (m) 612-770-3348

SOURCE RBA Consulting