A Tale of 2 Acquisitions: Opus Group CEO Kim Kopetz Shares M&A Insights

Welcome to Event Business Intelligence, your weekly source for deep dive insights on growth, strategy, measurement, innovation and M&A for owners of event businesses and executives responsible for event P&Ls.

In today’s newsletter:

• A Tale of 2 Acquisitions

• The Difference Between A Culture & A Brand

• Building the Narrative of Why

• Red Flags and Other Tips

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Inside the Mind of A Buyer of Event Businesses

In a previous post I wrote that “Successes Are Shouted from the Mountaintops; Failures Occur in the Shadows.” Mergers and acquisitions are a perfect exemplar of this phenomenon. They are announced with great fanfare when the deals are signed, but rarely do we hear about the failed integrations that are often their common fate.

Incidentally, the same can be said when companies announce raising big chunks of money, sometimes at ridiculous valuations (see Hopin’s $7.65 billion valuation on their 2021 raise), but quietly are sold for a fraction of that amount later on (also see Hopin’s 2023 sale to Ring Central for $15 million), or are shuttered altogether.

In short, making an acquisition or raising money is the easy part. Using that acquisition or funding to actually grow a strong business is much, much more difficult, as I can attest to, having been through this several times myself. Integrating the cultures, people, brands, services, clients, vendors, and processes of two different companies requires a clear strategy and a deft touch.

One of the people I’ve been most impressed with in this domain is Kim Kopetz, President & CEO of The Opus Group, which is comprised of Opus Agency, MAS (acquired in 2018) and Verve (acquired in 2022).  Over the past seven years, The Opus Group has acquired 9 agencies, many of which have been integrated into Opus Agency, with their most recent acquisition being The Company We Keep (2025).

I recently sat down with her to prep for the upcoming webinar I’m moderating for SITE on The State of M&A for DMCs and Event Agencies, featuring:

• Trevor Hanks | CEO at 360 DMC

• Sunny Irvine | Managing Director at Terramar DMC

• Kim Kopetz | President & CEO at The Opus Group

• Andrey Vakhovskiy | Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital

The conversation encompassed far more insights than what could be covered in the webinar, so I felt it warranted a dedicated article.

A Tale of 2 Acquisitions

No amount of integration brilliance can overcome a flawed strategy, which starts with understanding how an acquired company fits into the master plan. An examination of The Opus Group’s two most recent acquisitions offers an instructive example of different approaches.

What attracted Opus to The Company We Keep was the opportunity to strengthen their global reach with a strong footprint in the APAC region, as TCWK has offices in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Both companies also have deep roots in the tech space, and even share some of their largest clients, such as Salesforce. In addition, the services provided to those clients are very similar, and Opus Agency continues to have US-based clients doing more work in Asia. Given all this, Kopetz felt it made sense for TCWK to integrate into Opus Agency, becoming the APAC extension of the parent brand.

By contrast, Verve brought strength in the B2C industry, opening up a complementary vertical for The Opus Group. Verve also has vast expertise in experiential sampling and sponsorship activations, particularly around festivals and sporting events, areas that are tangential to, but somewhat different from, the core offerings of other group agencies. And while Verve also brought offices in Dublin, Amsterdam and London, providing on-the-ground support for all Opus Group clients, their differentiation and 30-year history warranted keeping it as a stand-alone brand.

Knowing the best way to position an acquisition from a brand perspective provides the blueprint for a successful integration.

The Difference Between A Culture and A Brand

Changing a company’s name doesn’t have to mean it loses its culture, however. Even though TCWK will be rebranded as Opus Agency, it will retain the DNA that makes it unique. “We want TCWK to keep their culture - they way they celebrate wins, the in-office traditions, and all the other things they do that employees have grown to love, and why they chose to work there in the first place,” Kopetz said. “It’s ok to have different team cultures under the same umbrella brand, particularly when it comes to offices in different parts of the world.”

Maintaining a strong culture is key to retaining and motivating employees, she added, and that, in turn, helps retain clients, Kopetz added. “Clients are less concerned about the name of an agency. What they care most about is that they can continue to work with the same people they’ve come to trust and rely on, and maintain a consistent level of service and operational excellence post-acquisition.”

When I think of due diligence, the process of digging into a company before committing to a final purchase, I think of reviewing the boatload of financial, operational, and administrative documents prospective buyers pore through to ensure that everything the company claims in their CIM checks out. Indeed, that’s the typical process.

Kopetz takes this a step further and engages in an extensive period of due diligence on the company culture, and the people that comprise it. “This is an area many buyers miss when they evaluate a company for acquisition. They dig really deep into the numbers, clients and growth potential, but often don’t pay enough attention to the culture, and whether the teams will be a good fit together., or their ways of working.”

Building the Narrative of Why

When news breaks that a company is being sold, the employees naturally are nervous about what the future holds for them. The last thing leaders want is a team that’s distracted from servicing clients and keeping their numbers on track. (See Exploring A Sale Without Employees Finding Out.) The best way to dispel their fear and uncertainty is to provide them with a positive vision for the future.

Kopetz sees one of the most important parts of her job as building the narrative for why they did the acquisition, and communicating that clearly to everyone involved. “One of the things I liked about both Verve and TCWK was that their leadership looked at the acquisition as a way to provide more growth opportunities for their team, and I think that’s a great story to tell.” Other benefits could include being able to offer clients a broader range of services, bring key skill sets in-house, invest in tech and infrastructure, or scale up the sales & marketing operation.

There’s nothing wrong with an owner wanting to take some of their chips off the table as a reason for selling, and that may very well be a driving factor, but there needs to be a broader vision for everyone to get excited about it and continue the momentum.

Red Flags & Other Tips

CEOs like Kopetz can receive several CIMs a month from bankers representing companies for sale, so I asked her what things owners should be aware of that are concerns to buyers.

• 🚩 Not commenting on their team and focusing solely on the numbers or clients. People power our business and industry.

• 🚩 Not having their financial house in order.

• 🚩 Having old case studies on their website or materials. Hint: pre-Covid is too old, and should have active clients.

• 🚩 Not being able to transparently explain anomalies in client and project P&Ls from one year to the next. It’s natural for the numbers to vary, but there should be a logical explanation.

• 🚩 Having all of the client relationship eggs in one basket, such as with the founder.

Kopetz also makes the point of being intentional with the integration process, and not inadvertently rocking the boat prematurely or unnecessarily. “My mantra is is for ‘do no harm.’ We need to ensure we’re not doing anything to make it harder for the team to do their jobs or impact the client experience. It’s why they are a successful agency in the first place, and I’m very protective of that.”

Amen.

Have any questions for Kim, or the other panelists on the webinar? Shoot me an email with what you’d like us to cover. Click here to register: The State of M&A for DMCs and Event Agencies

Here’s to taking your event business to the next level!

Howard Givner
Senior Advisor | Oaklins: DeSilva & Phillips (M&A) email me
CEO | Heathcote Advisory Group (Consulting) email me

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Catch up on recent articles:

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If and when you’re ready, here are ways I work with agency owners:

• Business Diagnostic & Company Valuation

• Growth Consulting

• Exit Planning

• Business Coaching & Owner Accountability

• M&A (Buy Side & Sell Side)

Wanna chat? Email me, or schedule an intro call.

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