Private equity firm General Atlantic has bought a majority stake in digital ad shop AKQA, the WSJ reported. The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, comes a day after the closing of Publicis Groupe’s $1.3 billion purchase of interactive agency Digitas. The latest news ends weeks of ad industry speculation over which interactive would follow Digitas in leaving its independent existence behind.
AKQA retained Morgan Stanley last year to help explore its options and reportedly had been considering several offers over the past few months. Most of the ad holding companies and several PE firms apparently took a look at AKQA. As AdAge noted in its report, some executives familiar with the matter said the main industry players balked at AKQA’s asking price: $250 million, which is almost three-and-half-times its annual revenue of $70 million. AKQA CEO Tom Bedecarre told AdAge the financing was secured as a means of paying off Francisco Partners and Accenture, which invested $54 million in the company in 2000, as well as his former partners Matt Haligmann and Kirk Citron of agency Citron Haligman Bedecarre.
Related:
—OMMA Honors Digital Ad Excellence In New York
—After Digitas, Ad Agencies Look To Next Big—Or Even Small—Digital Acquisitions
—Publicis Groupe Tries Shoring Up Interactive Services With Digitas Deal