SAMY Acquires Get Engaged to Accelerate U.S. Expansion

Global social-first marketing agency SAMY has acquired Atlanta-based Get Engaged in a deal reportedly valued at more than $100 million, expanding its U.S. operations and adding established expertise in influencer marketing, creator partnerships, and entertainment.

According to Fortune, Get Engaged co-founder Cam Fordham described the agreement as a low nine-figure deal involving cash and equity, although the companies have not disclosed the precise financial terms.

The acquisition is a significant step in SAMY's effort to expand its American business. Get Engaged will retain its brand and founding leadership while operating as SAMY's U.S. arm, bringing an existing client portfolio and talent relationships into the wider agency network.

SAMY Strengthens Its U.S. Presence Through Get Engaged

SAMY enters the acquisition with an established international network. Headquartered in Madrid, the agency reports more than 1,200 employees across 22 offices and operations spanning more than 55 markets. Its services include social media strategy, influencer marketing, research, creative development, content production, and social technology.

The addition of Get Engaged provides SAMY with a more substantial operating base in the United States, a market the company has identified as a central priority for growth.

Founded in 2016 by Alex Dermer, Cam Fordham, and Ben Hiott, Get Engaged has grown to more than 120 employees across Atlanta, New York, Nashville, and Los Angeles. Its services span influencer marketing, social media, entertainment, and talent partnerships.

For SAMY, the acquisition adds an established business with local teams, brand relationships, and knowledge of the American creator and entertainment markets. It also provides a platform for further U.S. growth without requiring the agency to build those capabilities entirely from the ground up.

In the announcement, SAMY CEO Juan Andrés Elhazaz Walsh identified the U.S. as the company's leading expansion priority.

The deal also follows the appointment of Anabela Bonuccelli as SAMY's U.S. managing director, alongside recent global account wins involving Unilever Foods and Barilla. Together, these developments show SAMY expanding its international client responsibilities while investing in the local capabilities needed to serve them.

SAMY Adds Creator and Entertainment Expertise to Its Global Operations

Get Engaged's relationships with creators, celebrities, and entertainment businesses are an important part of what SAMY is acquiring.

The Atlanta agency has worked with brands including DoorDash, Perplexity, Raising Cane's, Universal Music Group, EA, and Sazerac. Its background in entertainment and talent partnerships has helped it develop campaigns built around recognizable personalities and social media conversations.

One example is DoorDash's 2026 Super Bowl-week campaign featuring rapper 50 Cent. Rather than relying on a national in-game television placement, the campaign was designed for social distribution, using the artist's public persona and cultural relevance to generate attention around the brand.

Get Engaged also worked on a Carl's Jr. campaign featuring creator Alix Earle during the 2025 Super Bowl period. Both examples illustrate the agency's experience developing advertising concepts around talent and social content rather than conventional television-first distribution.

These capabilities complement SAMY's existing services, particularly its emphasis on combining audience research, marketing intelligence, creative development, and technology.

The strategic opportunity lies in bringing Get Engaged's U.S. creator and entertainment relationships into a broader international operation. A brand working across several markets could potentially access local talent expertise alongside international planning, production, and campaign coordination.

That combination is particularly relevant as social campaigns increasingly involve multiple creators, markets, formats, and distribution channels.

However, the acquisition does not automatically establish that the combined agencies can deliver stronger campaign results. Much will depend on how effectively SAMY integrates its existing services with Get Engaged's relationships and creative processes.

SAMY Retains Get Engaged's Founders and Agency Identity

SAMY is preserving Get Engaged's existing leadership structure rather than immediately folding the acquired business into a single agency brand.

Alex Dermer, one of Get Engaged's three co-founders, becomes CEO. Cam Fordham and Ben Hiott will also remain with the company, while its Atlanta headquarters and established identity will be retained.

According to Adweek, the founders will maintain meaningful ownership in the combined business, although the precise ownership percentages have not been disclosed.

The arrangement is relevant to how SAMY plans to manage the acquisition. Get Engaged's established relationships with talent, entertainment businesses, and brand clients form part of its value, and retaining the people responsible for developing those connections may support continuity during the integration.

Dermer described the acquisition as an opportunity to extend Get Engaged's existing capabilities through SAMY's wider resources.

The retention of Get Engaged's leadership also indicates that SAMY intends to preserve a degree of local operating identity as it builds a larger international agency group. Whether that structure proves effective will become clearer as the companies begin working together on clients and campaigns.

The Acquisition Builds on SAMY's Bridgepoint-Backed Growth Strategy

SAMY's purchase of Get Engaged follows several years of investment in geographic expansion and acquisitions.

Private equity firm Bridgepoint first invested in SAMY in 2023 before announcing a further investment in February 2025 that would make it the agency group's majority shareholder.

At the time, Bridgepoint identified geographic expansion, investment in marketing technology, and selective acquisitions as priorities for SAMY's next phase of development.

The strategy was already producing changes to SAMY's international operations. In 2025, the company acquired German social-first agency Intermate, expanding its presence in Europe's German-speaking markets.

Get Engaged represents a further investment in that approach, this time placing greater emphasis on the United States. The acquisition comes as SAMY reports expanding global client responsibilities and activity in new markets, including France, Denmark, Romania, Canada, and Turkey.

For SAMY, acquisitions offer a way to add specialized capabilities and local market knowledge alongside its existing technology, strategy, and creative services. The approach may also allow the company to pursue multinational client work while retaining agency teams with specific regional expertise.

Bridgepoint has described Get Engaged as a complementary business that strengthens SAMY's U.S. position. Its continuing financial support provides context for the acquisition, although the companies have not disclosed the funding contribution or precise transaction structure.

The deal also reflects the commercial importance of social-first advertising capabilities to agency groups pursuing growth.

Fortune cited WARC Media forecasts indicating that global advertising expenditure could reach $1.3 trillion in 2026, with social platforms among the channels attracting significant investment.

What SAMY's Expanded U.S. Business Could Mean for Brands

For brands working with international agencies, SAMY's acquisition of Get Engaged creates the prospect of accessing a broader combination of capabilities through one group.

SAMY already provides social strategy, research, technology, creative services, and international campaign support. Get Engaged adds U.S. creator and entertainment relationships, along with experience developing campaigns around talent and social distribution.

For multinational marketers, the combination could be useful when campaigns require both coordinated international planning and locally relevant creators or entertainment partnerships.

It may also allow SAMY to offer U.S. clients access to services and market coverage beyond Get Engaged's existing operations.

Those possibilities remain objectives rather than established outcomes. Neither company has announced specific new client wins directly resulting from the transaction, and the longer-term effects on revenue, campaign delivery, and agency integration remain to be seen.

Still, the acquisition provides a clear indication of SAMY's priorities. Following its expansion across Europe and other international markets, the group is committing further resources to building a stronger American business around social, creators, and entertainment.

With Get Engaged's leadership and relationships remaining in place, SAMY now has a larger U.S. operating platform from which to pursue that strategy. The next measure of the deal will be how successfully it connects those local capabilities with its wider international network.

About the Author

Nadica Naceva

Writer

Nadica Naceva writes, edits, and wrangles content at Influencer Marketing Hub, where she keeps the wheels turning behind the scenes. She’s reviewed more articles than she can count, making sure they don’t go out sounding like AI wrote them in a hurry. When she’s not knee-deep in drafts, she’s training others to spot fluff from miles away (so she doesn’t have to).