A digital agency and app developer with a significant Arena District office has been acquired for $1.225 billion by Telus International.
WillowTree had grown to $140 million revenue and 1,000 employees across several markets, according to a news release.
The company has 146 Columbus-area employees, a Telus International spokeswoman said via email, and Telus does not expect any impacts to job counts as a result of the merger.
Charlottesville, Virginia-based WillowTree acquired the former Dynamit, 274 Marconi Blvd., in November 2019.
Matt Dopkiss and Bobby Whitman founded Dynamit as college students in 2004. Dopkiss was promoted to chief innovation officer in 2020, and Whitman was an engineering vice president. Both updated their LinkedIn profiles this April to indicate they left operations, which is common a few years post acquisition.
They were not immediately available for comment.
"They left on great terms to pursue other business interests after having successfully integrated Dynamit and WillowTree in Columbus," WillowTree CEO Tobias Dengel told sister publication Triangle Inno via email. The company has a significant tech hub in Durham, North Carolina.
Dopkiss is still a WillowTree director, but it is common for boards to disband after an acquisition. The deal is expected to close in January, pending regulatory approvals, the release said.
Telus International builds AI and content moderation for brands. Based in Vancouver, Canada, last year it had the largest technology IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange when it spun out from telecommunications company Telus Corp.
WillowTree builds mobile and web-based apps, websites and other digital products for marketing, e-commerce and other aspects of business. Combining the two companies allows seamless integration of features like AI-powered chatbots, Dengel said in the release.
Ohio awarded WillowTree a Jobs Creation Tax Credit in March 2021 as the company pledged to add 50 jobs to a base of 108 by the end of 2023, a goal it's nearly reached. There was no separate city incentive. The state credit could be worth as much as $605,000 to the company over the life of the deal if it meets the jobs target and other terms.
Representatives of the state Department of Development were not immediately available for questions about how acquisitions affect agreements.
Founded in 2008, WillowTree's clients include HBO, Johnson & Johnson and National Geographic. Dynamit's pre-merger clients included Columbus' Donato's.
