Clemenger sells to Omnicom as Lawrence warns of outside ‘interference’
Clemenger Group Limited – one of Australia’s biggest locally-owned marketing groups – looks certain to end up in US hands after the agency said it had agreed to allow Omnicom to increase its minority stake to a majority share.
The announcement comes just weeks after Mitchell Communication Group, Australia’s biggest media buyer, agreed to sell to the Europe-based Aegis.
Clemenger, long allied to Omnicom’s BBDO network, was already 46.67% owned by Omnicom. The agreement would see Omnicom take that up to 73.67%, with the remainder remaining in local ownership.
The transaction is worth roughly $160m, valuing the company at more than half a billion dollars, well over last year’s valuation of the company.
The deal will make senior staff such as executive chairman Robert Morgan into multi-millionaires.
According to both sides, the reason for doing the deal is to incentivise the group’s staff to contribute beyond Australia.
Morgan said: “We believe this Proposal will be a win, win – strengthening the ties between the businesses will dramatically enhance our Group capabilities. We regard this move as a natural progression born of deep cultural respect and strong relationships at every level. The extremely strong affinity we share comes from knowing each other and successfully working together for many years.
Omnicom CEO John Wren said: “Clemenger has developed significant capabilities beyond general media advertising. The Group includes many of the marketing service capabilities included in Omnicom worldwide. We plan to tap into Clemenger’s knowledge and expertise to help develop our business in the Region.
“A key ingredient to this Proposal is that we would like 25 percent of the company to remain in local ownership. A large element of Clemenger’s enduring success has been employee equity participation. We believe perpetuation of employee ownership is fundamental to their success.”
Andrew Robertson, President and CEO of BBDO Worldwide said: “This is all about setting both parties up for accelerated growth. For 37 years BBDO Worldwide has had an incredibly effective partnership with Clemenger BBDO and the Proximity agencies in particular. It has worked well for our global clients, and the work done by the very talented people in these agencies has helped strengthen our reputation, and solidify our position, as the world’s most awarded network.”
BBDO is offering to buy Clemenger shares at $6.43 cash per share. They were last publicly valued at $3.55.
The deal remains subject to shareholder approval.
An early reaction to the deal came from Neil Lawrence, executive creative director at rival marketing group STW. He tweeted:
“Sad. Clems always stood strong keeping a majority. OS always interferes. Badly”
Tim, fix your formatting
A real shame…
Let’s hope Clems fail the due diligence and remain quasi-independent.
Good bye Clemenger, the industry needed a change anyway.
Thanks for flagging the formatting, anonymous. You’re looking at a first-snap story. A more considered (and formatted) version will follow shortly.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Tim, whilst you’re at it, I’d prefer Times New Roman 12 pt.
I was thinking comic sans…
I prefer anything with cursive script. I just love cursing!
I wonder what Peter Clemenger is thinking?
“BBDO is offering to buy Clemenger shares at $6.43 cash per share. They were last publicly valued at $3.55.”
Mmm, probably “bring it on”.
“The deal will make senior staff such as executive chairman Robert Morgan into multi-millionaires”.
You mean he’s not already?
I just ate a hot dog, wasnt that bad
This is good news for Clems.
Regardless of how much money Peter Clemenger, Rob Morgan and their Clems colleagues receive, there are two important points to remember.
1] They’ve earned it
2] There are many Clems people who will share in the windfall
I think this marks the beginning of a bigger, better Clems with a footprint in Asia.
This will provide more opportunities for growth, profits [still to be shared with staff] and career opportunities throughout an extended network and with a majority partner who has always been committed to quality work.
I’m predicting a smaller slice, but of a much, much, bigger cake.
In my world, that’s a win-win result.
Wow – $160 million to get 27% more of Clems. So that means Clems are “worth” $595 million. Compare that to Mitchells market cap at $370m, STW at $305m, Photon at $? Shows the value of keeping a business off the stock market!