TA Associates has expanded its marketing and research segment of its portfolio, buying a majority stake in eCircle, a Munich-based provider of online marketing services, for more than $60 million.

TA Associates’ London-based managing director Jonathan Meeks worked on the deal for the PE firm. Comment was not provided by press time. Meeks will join eCircle’s board of directors.

In 2008, e-Rewards Inc., a Dallas-based online research operation, was bought by TA Associates. TA Associates has also bought, and subsequently sold, several marketing and e-services firms.

The private equity firm has offices in Boston, London, Menlo Park and Mumbai.

TA Associates has been advised by Michael Hinderer of Altium Capital. The sellers have been advised by Arnold Bahlmann.

Despite the recession’s impact on marketing and advertising, there have been a number of recent deals in the industry.

In August 2009, Publicis Groupe SA bought Microsoft’s Razorfish; the former aQuantive asset was absorbed into the French advertising titan for more than $225 million.

PE has taken an interest in marketing deals as well. Triton Pacific Capital Partners bought MyPrint Corp., a promotional marketer based in California, in October 2009.

And last month, Simon Worldwide Inc., the marketer that became ensnared in the McDonald’s ‘Monopoly’ promotion scheme, formed a committee to establish strategic options.

Technology