Granite buys Right Hat in tenth deal as US push accelerates

Granite, the Irish-founded digital agency with offices in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Belfast, New York and the Middle East, has acquired Right Hat, a branding and design agency with teams in Chicago and Washington, DC. Terms were not disclosed.

It is Granite's tenth acquisition since 2020, its second in North America this year following performance marketing specialist Creative Media in March, and its third in the US overall. The group now has more than 200 people and works with clients including Stryker, Sysco, Iron Mountain, Concentrix, Aer Lingus and Workvivo by Zoom.

Right Hat was founded by Charlyne Fabi more than 20 years ago and has built a strong niche in branding and marketing for law firms, professional services and complex B2B businesses. It has worked with more than 200 organisations, including Troutman Pepper, BakerHostetler, BCLP, Bracewell, Crowell & Moring, JAMS, American University and Microsoft. It also publishes Top of Mind, a biennial report based on a survey of 100 buyers of legal services.

Right Hat keeps its name. Fabi becomes executive creative director, leading Granite's US creative offer, and partner Jeorjina Tegel becomes vice president of client strategy and growth across Granite's US portfolio. Both join chief commercial officer Rob Carpenter on the US leadership team.

Why this deal makes sense

The two businesses sit at opposite ends of the same client journey. Right Hat does the research, positioning, messaging and creative. Granite does the engineering, data, AI, websites and performance marketing that bring a brand to life. Each now has something to sell into the other's client base.

The sector expertise matters just as much. Law firms and professional services buyers are notoriously hard to win and slow to switch. Right Hat arrives with two decades of relationships in exactly that market, which is a shortcut no amount of organic hiring could buy.

It also fits a clear plan. CEO Conor Buckley has called the US central to Granite's growth, and the group expects North America to deliver around half of its revenue by 2028. Carpenter summed up the approach simply: "Ten acquisitions in, the playbook is unchanged: find brilliant specialist teams."

What founders can learn from this

Granite is a good example of a buyer that knows exactly what it wants: specialists with deep sector knowledge, strong client lists and founders willing to stay and lead. Right Hat ticks every box, and its founders both step into bigger roles rather than out of the business.

For founders, the lesson is that a narrow niche is not a limit on your exit. It is often the thing that makes you valuable. A buyer expanding into a new market will pay for credibility it cannot build quickly, and two decades of trust with law firms is precisely that.

It is also worth noticing who is buying. Mid-sized, fast-growing groups like Granite are doing ten deals in six years. They are often more active, and more flexible on structure, than the big networks.

Run a specialist agency and want to know who is buying in your sector? Talk to Agencies.co.

Source: citybiz