PLUTA M&A team advises on sale of Vienna-based SEO and AI agency Improove

The M&A experts at PLUTA Management GmbH have successfully conducted a structured sales process for Improove GmbH based in Vienna. The buyer is Zimper GmbH, a B2B media group with an established presence in the German-speaking market.

Improove is an international digital marketing agency with offices in Vienna and Madrid. Since its foundation in 2009, the agency has implemented search engine optimisation (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM) and growth strategies for customers in more than 60 countries.

Zimper GmbH has evolved from a traditional specialist publishing house for print media into a full-service B2B communications group that includes Österreichischer Kommunal-Verlag GmbH in Vienna with subsidiary Zimper Media GmbH in Berlin.

Comprehensive M&A advisory services

PLUTA supported the seller throughout the entire M&A transaction. Among other things, this involved preparing the data room, engaging with potential investors and providing advice during the due diligence process as well as conducting the negotiations with prospective buyers together with management and the shareholders.

The PLUTA Management GmbH team comprised partner Mr Ludwig Stern, project manager Mr Luca Reifenberg, business lawyer Ms Selina Senf and Mr Michael Kögl. Attorney Dr. iur. Christian Pindeus from Oberhammer Rechtsanwälte GmbH based in Vienna provided legal assistance. The buyer was advised by a team led by Mr Christoph Leitgeb from DSC Doralt Seist Csoklich Rechtsanwälte GmbH based in Vienna.

High-profile client base

Project manager Mr Luca Reifenberg said, “Despite the challenging transaction process, we have been able to successfully conclude the negotiations. There was interest from several strategic investors on account of the agency’s considerable SEO and AI expertise and its high-profile client base. The Zimper Group had the best overall package and ultimately prevailed in the bidding process.”

Improove will continue to operate as an independent brand. The team at the Vienna and Madrid offices remains unchanged. The affiliation with the Zimper Group will give the agency’s clients additional reach through established B2B media and events. Conversely, the media group’s existing customers will gain access to a broader range of digital marketing and performance optimisation services.

The acquisition is part of a long-term plan to strengthen digital expertise within Zimper GmbH. At a time when online visibility is increasingly determined by artificial intelligence (AI) and new search platforms, this is an important step.

For the past 15 years, Zimper GmbH has been building up an extensive B2B network of specialist media, conferences and platforms for sharing information. As a result, the company reaches more than 100,000 decision-makers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. However, it has lacked a strong digital marketing offering to date.

Mr Michael Zimper, managing director of Zimper GmbH, said, “We have made a conscious decision to pursue this route rather than developing this know-how in-house – because Improove brings with it deep expertise, not empty buzzwords. The team is driven by data rather than hype. That is a good fit for us.” The decision to acquire Improove is therefore a strategic one: the agency specialises in generative engine optimisation. This involves making brands visible to ChatGPT, Claude, Google AI and other AI-supported search engines so that they recommend them as reliable sources.