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Havas acquires sports agency in first deal after market debut - adtechsolutions

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Havas acquires sports agency in first deal after market debut


Havas Media Network has kicked off the new year with an acquisition aimed at deepening its sports marketing expertise and diversifying its revenue base.

Media arm Havas has struck a deal to acquire CA Sports, a specialist sponsorship agency based in Spain, and add it to its Havas Play entertainment unit. It is the French holding company’s first acquisition since it listed on Amsterdam’s Euronext exchange in December, following its spin-off from media empire Vivendi.

According to Jorge Irizar, CEO of Havas Media Network Spain and global COO of Havas Media Network, this is the first of 10 acquisitions the media group is targeting this year and is part of a multi-year process to expand its business model. .

“We’re looking for opportunity. We’re looking for talent. We want to accelerate this diversification. We want clients, expertise, talent, new ways of working, fresh air in our organization,” he said.

Havas did not disclose the full financial terms of the deal, but Irizar said the cash-only deal will see Havas take full control of CA Sports after six years.

Sports and cultural focuswith

That Havas wants to increase its appeal to advertisers amid growing investment in sports advertising and sponsorship deals will come as no surprise. It’s safe to say that sports content remains the last bastion of live TV viewership, making it valuable for advertisers.

Brands often use sponsorships as a means of reaching large audiences without having to spend large sums on live television. Don McGuire, CMO of Qualcomm and its Snapdragon brand, told Digiday that its five-year sponsorship deal with Manchester United soccer team — reportedly worth $375 million — provides value for money compared to other forms of branded advertising.

“I would have had to quadruple my top-of-the-road advertising budget to get the same results,” he said.

According to PwC estimates, the global sports sponsorship market is estimated to reach $109.1 billion by 2030; for example, the 10-year Formula 1 sponsorship introduced by LVMH last year, was valued at over $100 million annually. Thus, expertise in culture and entertainment, including sports, is expected an area where agency groups are focusing on M&A activity this year.

Andrew Day, chief executive of mergers and acquisitions consultancy Capital A, said “market strength” among independent agencies had already begun to attract acquisition groups. In September and November, Capital A advised space computing company Skyview Innovations on the acquisitions of two CX companies, UK sports specialist OMM and US Hovercraft.

CA Sports – which counts Hyundai, Coca-Cola and Konami among its clients – would give Havas Media Network an expanded foothold in the Spanish market. Home to the La Liga soccer tournament and teams such as Barcelona and Real Madrid, it is one of the world’s major sports centers. In addition to creative and experiential production, the company offers consulting services for brands and management of sponsorship deals.

But the acquisition is part of a larger shift at Havas, Irizar says. Pressure from client teams to cut costs in an increasingly “commoditized” media market has lowered the ceiling on growth. Irizar said.

In response, the COO said Havas Media Network intends to diversify its client offering over a four-year period. The ultimate goal is to get half of the revenue from non-media buying and planning activities.

“[The] the goal is in the next three [to] four years to have half of the revenue outside of the core business, outside of pure media,” Irizar said. “To do that, we need to grow organically — new talent, new clients, new expertise — and also go into the market and buy some companies.”

Havas completed 10 deals in 2024, including Wilderness, a UK social agency added to the same Play division as CA Sports. After its IPO, Havas wants to add between $41 million and $52 million (€40 to €50 million) in net income each year through acquisitions.

Matthew Lacey, a partner at mergers and acquisitions consultancy Waypoint Partners, said “specialist specialist agencies for rapid growth” providing “capability building” could offer another way to achieve this.

Irizar said Havas plans to make 10 agency acquisitions by the end of the year, focusing on companies in the US, UAE, India, France, Belgium and Spain. Companies that offer services and expertise in data analytics, retail, artificial intelligence and entertainment are high on the hit list.

It won’t be the only agency group with its hat in the ring. Industry experts previously told Digiday that they expect agency M&A activity to increase this year as ad players look for ways to counter the sheer scale of the combined Omnicom and Interpublic. The holding companies are expected to complete the merger later in 2025.

Irizar said the company expects to announce the acquisition of another Spanish company by the end of the first quarter, but declined to provide further details.



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