Cork-headquartered Granite, Ireland's largest independent digital agency, has agreed to acquire Creative Media, a Northern Ireland-founded performance marketing specialist serving clients across the United States and Canada, according to Business Eye.

The acquisition enables Granite to target $40 million (€34.84 million) revenue by 2027, with North America accounting for $20 million (€17.42 million). The deal anchors an ambitious US growth strategy following a 400% year-on-year increase in organic North American revenue over the past 12 months. Granite's expansion strategy is backed by $10 million (€8.71 million) in growth capital from BGF, Ireland and the UK's most active growth capital investor.

Creative Media has developed a North American client portfolio over 25 years of operations. Marcus Isherwood, who founded the company in Northern Ireland in May 2000, will assume the role of Chief Revenue Officer at Granite, collaborating with Rob Carpenter, Granite's US-based Chief Commercial Officer.

Marcus Isherwood said: "I've spent 25 years building client relationships in North America with a simple philosophy: every dollar spent on marketing has to deliver a measurable return. That's exactly how Granite operates, but at enterprise scale and with technical depth I haven't seen in an independent agency."

The combined entity will employ over 200 specialists spanning strategy, engineering, design, data and marketing functions. Granite maintains enterprise relationships with Intel, Pepsi, Sysco, Iron Mountain, Concentrix, Aer Lingus, Tesco and Dalata Hotel Group. The agency received shortlisting for Best Large Agency of the Year at the 2025 US Agency Awards.

Conor Buckley, CEO at Granite and EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2025 finalist, said: "The Creative Media agreed acquisition, Marcus's appointment, and the team we're building in the US are all part of a deliberate plan to bring Granite's model to the world's largest digital market."

The transaction represents Granite's ninth acquisition since 2020 and its largest North American market entry.

Explore Granite's North American expansion strategy and acquisition details in the complete article.