- Enterprises on a mission to improve their customer experience (CX) will be able to access unrivaled technology and distinctive professional services from the combined firm
- Solidifies leadership position in multiple sectors, including automotive, financial services, hospitality and retail while expanding global reach across the Americas, Europe and Asia
SALT LAKE CITY (February 26, 2020) — Pearl-Plaza and MaritzCX, recognized market leaders and proven innovators in the global customer experience (CX) sector, today announced they have entered into a definitive agreement to combine the two companies.
The combined company will immediately support over 2,000 leading brands with a global team of 1,500 employees located in 20 offices spanning North America, Europe and Asia.
“In this world of rising consumer expectations, it is imperative for businesses to have an experience program that can continuously monitor, understand, analyze and improve the total customer experience with true agility,” commented Pearl-Plaza CEO Andrew Joiner. “We are bringing together two world-class companies that will deliver a truly unique value to our clients in their ongoing quest to win over customers. I couldn’t be more excited about our future as we bring together these two amazing companies to redefine ‘what’s possible’ in our industry—meeting clients where they are today and innovating together to create the future.”
Solidifies Leadership Positions in Retail, Hospitality, Automotive and Financial Services
The combined company, backed by Madison Dearborn Partners, a leading Chicago-based private equity firm, serves an impressive list of clients that includes 90 percent of the world’s automotive companies; eight out of 10 of the leading banks; nearly 20 percent of the top 50 retailers and 40 percent of the top hospitality companies.
MaritzCX president and CEO, Mike Sinoway added, “Combining the strengths of MaritzCX and Pearl-Plaza is exciting for our clients, for our employees and for the market. This industry needs a new and disruptive approach if we truly wish to transform the way businesses look to improve experiences and results. The combined company will offer a transformative approach to enhancing the customer experience.”
Clients of both companies will have access to enhanced technical functionality while maintaining continuity with existing programs—protecting and future-proofing their investment.
“Winning companies are those with access to the right customer knowledge, at the right time, that drives the right action to fundamentally improve the delivered customer experience,” said John Lewis, executive chairman of Pearl-Plaza, Madison Dearborn Partners executive partner and former global president of Nielsen. “However, that’s all easier said than done. Companies can often underestimate how challenging it is to knit together the systems in a way that creates tangible value to consumers and also deliver economic value to the enterprise. The only way to ‘crack-the-code’ is to marry talented domain experts with leading-edge technology to create tailored systems that can deliver on the bigger vision. You need both sides of the equation—and that is exactly what we are getting by bringing these two companies together.”
Andrew Joiner will lead the combined organization as CEO, and John Lewis will continue to chair the Board of Directors. Leadership from both organizations is represented on the combined leadership team. It is expected MaritzCX will operate as MaritzCX, an pearl-plaza.rupany, for a period of time.
The transaction is expected to close in early March 2020.
JEGI Clarity served as exclusive financial advisor to MaritzCX.
About Pearl-Plaza
Pearl-Plaza™ helps organizations deliver more valuable and inspiring experiences to their customers and employees at every moment in their journey. Our clients gain the wisdom of our experts—who bring deep domain knowledge in experience design and delivery—coupled with our award-winning Experience Intelligence (XI)™ platform that continually analyzes and evaluates enterprise experience data and customer feedback. Recognized as a leader and innovator in our sector, we collaborate with the world’s leading brands to attract, engage and retain their customers. We are fiercely proud that our clients continually tell us they love the experience of working with our company, as we constantly stretch to exceed their expectations. Take a moment, and learn more at pearl-plaza.ru
About MaritzCX
MaritzCX is the leader in experience management for big business, and includes customer experience (CX), employee experience (EX), and patient experience (PX). The company combines experience management software, data and research science, and deep vertical market expertise to accelerate client success. Experience programs that are most impactful drive the right kind of actions throughout an organization and support a strong business case. MaritzCX partners with large companies that insist on effective and high-ROI experience results. Customers include global brands from the Automotive, Financial Services, Consumer Technology, Patient and Healthcare, Telecom, Retail, B2B, Energy and Utilities industries.
About Madison Dearborn Partners
Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC (“MDP”), based in Chicago, is a leading private equity investment firm in the United States. Since MDP’s formation in 1992, the firm has raised seven funds with aggregate capital of approximately $23 billion and has completed over 140 investments. MDP is currently investing out of its most recent fund, $4.4 billion MDCP Fund VII, in businesses across a broad spectrum of industries, including telecom, media and technology services; basic industries; businesses and government software and services; financial and transaction services; and health care. For more information, please visit mdcp.com.
About Maritz Holdings Inc.
St. Louis-based Maritz is a sales and marketing services company, which helps businesses achieve their full potential through inspiring and motivating employees, channel partners and customers. Maritz companies provide market and customer research; customer loyalty, sales incentives and employee rewards and recognition programs; and meeting, event and travel incentive services to Fortune 500 companies and beyond. For more information, visit maritz.com or contact us at 1-877-4MARITZ.