Adam & eve bought by Omnicom
Adam & eve, winner of the 2012 Marketing Week Engage Award for agency of the year, has been acquired by DDB Worldwide, part of the Omnicom Group.
The two will merge to form adam & eve/DDB, creating the UK’s sixth largest agency by revenue and a top 10 agency by billings. The value of the deal was undisclosed.
The four adam & eve founders are to hold key roles in the new agency. James Murphy will become chief executive, Ben Priest has been appointed executive creative director, David Golding becomes chief strategy officer and Jon Forsyth will be chief communications strategy officer.
Adam & eve created the highly acclaimed John Lewis Christmas campaign of 2011 (pictured), which also won a 2012 Marketing Week Engage award in the retail category. The agency ‘s client roster also includes Phones 4U and Foster’s.
The newly-formed agency will be chaired by chairman and CEO of DDB UK, Stephen Woodford.
He says: “I’ve admired their work since the agency started and the fit between our 2 agencies could not be better in terms of values, talent and clients. Together we will build on the energy and entrepreneurialism of London’s best start-up, by adding DDB’s scale of resources and talent, driven by the creative passion that unites both businesses.”
The transaction was advised by corporate finance firm Clarity.
