(l-r) Simon Wassef, Chief Strategy Officer; Jack Playfair, Head of Sport & Entertainment; Dani Bassil, CEO; Jeremy Hogg, Executive Creative Director; Anita Zanesco, Chief Client Officer; Remi Couzelas, Managing Director, Re.
M+C Saatchi has signed heads of terms for a management buyout of its Australia and New Zealand business, with completion expected on October, backed by growth investment firm Parc.
The buyout is led by CEO Dani Bassil, alongside Simon Wassef (chief strategy officer), Jeremy Hogg (executive creative director), Anita Zanesco (chief client officer), Remi Couzelas (managing director, Re) and Jack Playfair (head of sport and entertainment).
The business will continue operating under its existing brands and leadership structure with no disruption to clients.
The Australian business has been an outsized black spot on the global business, ending the year to December in a 31.9% hole.
Global like-for-like net revenue fell 7.3% to £204.7 million and operating profit was down 26.1% to £24.9 million. Without Australia, global revenue would have been down just 3.1%s.
Bassil said the buyout would allow the locally-led management team to focus entirely on the opportunities ahead.
"We have outstanding client relationships and a team of exceptional creative talent across Australia and New Zealand. The transaction will allow the locally-led management team to focus entirely on the opportunities in front of us and to shape our future with speed and ambition," she said.
Heather Rabbatts, executive chair of M+C Saatchi plc, said the transaction was intended to provide the best platform for clients in the region while enabling the M+C Saatchi brand to remain present in the market.
Adam Pozniak, co-founder of Parc, said the firm was delighted to back the leadership team.
"M+C Saatchi Group ANZ have built a genuinely differentiated offer in the region, and we see significant opportunity to support their growth ambitions, both organically and through further investment. This is exactly the kind of founder and management-led opportunity Parc was set up to support," he said.
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