The Brazilian Garage IM agency is merged into the IMS Group

Sao Paulo, June 9, 2014 – The IMS Group, a group formed by leading media and marketing companies in Latin America, with partners and customers such as Twitter, Waze, Netflix, Foursquare and Spotify, and physical presence in eight key cities in the region and the US, acquired a majority stake in the Brazilian full service agency Garage IM.

With over seven years of experience, Garage IM will add to the group’s assets its deep experience in the Brazilian market and its expertise in innovation, branding and creation. The agency currently has a portfolio of renowned and prestigious customers in their home market.

“Becoming part of the IMS Group adds a huge value to Garage, since the group has enormous procurement capacity for media and know-how in performance marketing. We will build on the innovation that the IMS Group develops daily, working with hundreds of traditional and digital multiplatform campaigns. We will gain a lot from this partnership, since the IMS Group will be our gateway to Latin America”, said Max Petrucci, President and Founder of Garage IM.

To Gastón Taratuta, CEO, Partner and Founder of the IMS Group, the choice of Garage was based on two very important features of the company: quality service and support; and creative proposals that live up to the best ones in the industry. “This partnership represents an important milestone in our regional expansion, our customers come to Brazil in search of local support to help them with the cultural aspects and particularities of this country. Garage IM will provide this support”, said the executive.

Ignacio Vidaguren, COO and Partner of the IMS Group, says that in addition to the geographical complement and the services portfolio, there is a unique cultural identity between the two companies. “The name Garage was inspired by the spirit of the ‘dot-com’ companies, while one of the companies belonging to the IMS Group, IMS Internet Media Services (IMS), is the largest digital media hub of the Silicon Valley for Latin America, selling advertising products of innovative platforms like Twitter, Waze, Spotify and Foursquare, companies that are at the forefront of advertising. Thus, the Garage joins the group with a synergy that will certainly boost their growth”, concludes Vidaguren.

The intention of IMS Group, upon acquiring a majority stake in Garage IM, was to count on a Brazilian company that will add know-how to the group, in terms of innovation, branding and creation, as well as expertise in the Brazilian market. Max Petrucci will become one of the agency’s shareholders and continue to be the CEO.

Garage IM will continue to develop digital campaigns for clients such as Pepsi US, Lipton, KeroCoco, Continental, BB Seguros, Centrum, Neopan, Votorantim, Novartis, Brasilprev and Brillia. It will also begin to work with Netflix as a result of its joining the IMS Group.

About IMS Group

The IMS Group is a consortium of companies specializing in media and marketing, with business focused in Latin America.

Group companies include IMS Internet Media Services (IMS), the largest digital media hub of the Silicon Valley for Latin America, and the Garage IM and 10’Mídia agencies, both from Brazil.

Companies like Twitter, Waze, Spotify and Foursquare, among others, chose the group as exclusive trade partner for Latin America.

The IMS Group is headquartered in Miami and has offices in New York, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Uruguay.

About Garage IM

The Garage IM is a leading full service agency in the Brazilian market, with over 7 years of experience providing full digital presence services for brands like Pepsi US, Lipton, KeroCoco, Continental, BB Seguros, Centrum, Neopan, Votorantim, Novartis, Brasilprev and Brillia, among others.

Founded by Max Petrucci, its main strengths are innovation, branding and creativity, applied to marketing strategies. Its name and its culture, inspired by the garages where the most innovative companies in the technology industry have been created, define the manner in which Garage IM addresses the challenges of its customers and brands: in an innovative, efficient and holistic manner.