Samantha Cameron’s stepfather in line for slice of £40m windfall after sale of firm behind Octonauts

Samantha Cameron’s stepfather is in line to share a £40million windfall after selling part of the TV production business behind hit children’s show Octonauts. Viscount William Astor will split the cash with media mogul Lord Waheed Alli thanks to a deal which valued their firm Silvergate Media at between £70million and £80million. Shamrock Capital Advisers – a […]

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STW/WPP: the mammoth merger

The merger of WPP and STW in Australia creates an $850 million business. It dwarfs the nearest competition by a long way and CEO of the newly formed WPP AUNZ, Michael Connaghan, expects it to punch through $1 billion before too long. With more than 90 agencies in the combined business, consolidation is inevitable. Connaghan said as much, speaking to AdNews just hours after the merger was passed by shareholders

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UBM acquires Business Journals in the US

BJI serves the men’s apparel and women’s apparel and accessories markets under the following leading tradeshow brands: AccessoriesTheShow, EDIT, FAME, Moda, MRket and Stitch. These shows run multiple times a year and in some cases are located in the same venues as UBM shows. BJI also operates several websites and publications serving the fashion sector. In 2015, BJI’s revenues were approximately $40m – $33m from Events and $7m from Other Marketing Services

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Block The Blockers And They’ll Soon Come Back

MediaPost LondonBlog: According to eMarketer’s figures, the one in five who will be blocking ads this year will rise to just over one in four (27%) next year. This means that while one in ten were blocking just over a year ago in 2014, it will be one in four just three years later. Government was spot on to label ad-blocking software a modern-day protection racket. Any tech that blocks ads on sites unless the publisher pays to be whitelisted is very accurately described as a protection racket

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Publicis confirms talks with Cheil

In a Q1 earnings announcement Publicis said: “We don’t expect this year to be a year of large or numerous acquisitions” with the possible exception of Samsung’s ad agency Cheil Worldwide, the second largest Asian agency outside of Japan. Levy confirms acquisition talks, believing the South Korean-based agency would be a great fit to complement its digital expertise and global footprint. But he says these discussions have had “ups and downs” and “we are in a plateau today.”

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Omnicom posts 3.8% organic growth in Q1

The strength of the U.S. dollar continued to suppress revenue growth at Omnicom Group in the first quarter: revenues worldwide were up just 0.9% to about $3.5 billion. The company said currency fluctuations in the first quarter cost it about $97 million in top line growth. Organic growth, which excludes the impact of currency fluctuations, acquisitions and asset sales, was better — up 3.8% globally and 4.5% in the North America market, which accounts for 61% of the company’s business

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Iris acquires Founded, extends B2B reach

Iris, part of Cheil Worldwide, is acquiring Founded, a creative agency with offices in London and San Francisco. This deal will further extend Iris’ expertise in business-to-business (B2B) marketing, CRM, creative technology and strategic planning. Plus, Iris will now have a footprint on the west coast through Founded’s San Francisco office, opened in 2015. Terms of the deal were not disclosed

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Burson-Marsteller agrees to acquire majority stake in Turkish consultancy Effect PR

NEW YORK, April 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Burson-Marsteller, a leading global strategic communications and public relations firm, announced today it has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Turkish communications firm Effect PR. Headquartered inIstanbul, Effect PR has been Burson-Marsteller’s exclusive affiliate partner in Turkey since 2012. Following the acquisition, it will become a full member of the network and be renamed Effect Burson-Marsteller

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Hearst and Verizon acquire Complex

Publishers are scrambling quickly to launch Millennial content hubs, but Hearst is opting for the turnkey approach. The company announced that it’s extending its partnership with telecommunications giant Verizon to acquire Complex and its massive Millennial video audience

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Netflix sets sights on 100m subscribers

Netflix will hit 100m subscribers “some time next year”, according to chief executive Reed Hastings, after the digital home of Daredevil and Orange is the New Black reported its best ever quarter, aided by expansion into 130 new markets

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