Incepta in £10m sponsorship agencies deal
Incepta, the international marketing and communications agency, has bought UK sponsorship agencies Red Mandarin and Karen Earl in two separate deals totalling &£10.2m.
Incepta, which provides advertising, public relations, marketing, design and branding services, has bought the two companies to give it a competitive edge in the sponsorship market.
Neither Red Mandarin nor Karen Earl are involved in selling sponsorship rights.
David Wright, executive chairman of Incepta, says: “Our clients increasingly recognise the strategic value of sponsorship and how it can deliver brand communication.
“Incepta believes that both Karen Earl and Red Mandarin will be able to offer the full range of sponsorship services that our clients are now demanding.”
Red Mandarin, whose clients include Ericsson, Sky and Unilever, provides a consultancy service.
Karen Earl has three business divisions: consultancy, sponsorship management and PR and media. Clients include Norwich Union and Whitbread.
The agency is best known for making Cornhill Insurance, a household name through its Test match cricket sponsorship.
Incepta has about 1,000 employees and 2,000 clients worldwide, including Coca-Cola and McDonald’s.
Forty-five per cent of Incepta’s revenue depends on advertising, brought in through subsidiaries such as Citigate Albert Frank.
