Huntsworth has bolstered its healthcare capabilities by acquiring San Francisco agency Giant Creative Strategy for an initial sum of $72.2m from Shamrock Capital Growth Fund III.
The deal, for an agency which reported revenue of around $32m in 2017, could rise to as much as $97.2m. Huntsworth has purchased 90.2% of Giant’s equity, with the remaining 9.8% held by Giant’s senior management, including CEO Steven Gold and president Adam Gelling.
The remainder of Giant’s shares will be subject to put and call rights based on a multiple of Giant’s earnings during the earn-out, up to a maximum of $25m. Giant’s EBITDA in 2017 was around $7m.
Giant, one of the West Coast’s largest independent healthcare marketing agencies, will be combined with Huntsworth’s existing healthcare agencies, led by New York’s Evoke, in a bid to add scale at a time when many healthcare clients are seeking fewer, larger agencies. Giant currently has 150 staffers and and derives around 70% of its revenue from marketing to healthcare professionals, a key growth area for Huntsworth.