The deal will involve £5.4m cash and the issue of 187,943 new ordinary shares in Next 15. Further payments are dependent on EBITDA performance. The maximum total consideration is expected to be £15m.

London-based Planning-inc was set up in 2001 and now has a team of more than 55. It will continue to operate as an independent brand within the Next 15 network with its senior management team remaining at the helm.

Planning-inc reported EBIT and profit before tax of £1.3m, and gross assets of £2.7m, for the year ended 31 December 2017.

Tim Dyson, CEO of Next 15 said: “Next 15 believes marketing is a technology and data-driven activity. We are committed to investing in these areas alongside the creative aspects of marketing. Planning-inc’s focus on using data science and analytics to inform and design great marketing programmes fits beautifully with our strategy.”

James Melhuish, managing director of Planning-inc added: “By joining the Next 15 group we can tap into its proven expertise at helping data and technology focused businesses scale, and we are tremendously excited at the prospect of our combined experience as well as the potential of collaborating with the other agencies within the group.”