Martin Sorrell's S4Capital will merge its global content practice, built around MediaMonks, with the Mexico-based digital agency Circus Marketing.
The move will expand S4Capital’s content expertise and strengthen its presence in eight cities across the Americas, as well as add a new office in Spain.
In Latin America, the move follows last year’s merger of MightyHive, S4Capital’s programmatic practice, with Brazil-based consulting firm ProgMedia.
Circus, formed in 2005 and headquartered in Mexico City, creates content strategies and campaigns for brands including Netflix, Spotify, Google, Facebook and Uber.
The deal is half in cash and the rest in S4Capital shares. The total value wasn't announced.
Circus is projected to add revenue of $US38 million, gross profit of $US20 million in 2019 and 350 staff, working in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Los Angeles and into Spain for the first time.
Sir Martin Sorrell, executive chairman S4Capital: “Bruno Lambertini, Ignacio Liaudat and Luis Alonso and their colleagues at Circus share our vision of focusing on purely digital content, unencumbered by analogue baggage. Circus also embraces our data-driven holy trinity model and embodies faster, better, cheaper or speed, quality and value. They are buying into our unitary model, combining seamlessly with our content and programmatic practices.”
Bruno Lambertini, founder and CEO, Circus: “We believe in ‘emotions driven by data’ and by bringing our talents, expertise and networks into the S4Capital family, we’re building a solid framework for the new era of advertising.”
Wesley ter Haar, founder MediaMonks: “Having a group of self-proclaimed misfits like Circus join the family proves once again that we’re building the biggest and best tent in the industry for talent."
In June last year, Melbourne-based marketing transformation and customer experience company BizTech was acquired by S4Capital and merged with MediaMonks.
S4Capital, founded by Sorrell in 2018 after he left WPP, the company he founded, in September posted another surge in revenue, fueled by major client wins, keeping the self-described new age/new era digital advertising and marketing services company on track to double in size by 2021.
The company posted a statutory loss for the June first half of GBP8.8 million on the back of one-off costs, including acquisitions.
But billings rose 44.4% to GBP184.23 million, revenues 41.6% to GBP87.97 million as the company puts revenue growth ahead of net profit.
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