[ad_1]
A Japanese marketing giant is understood to have struck a £533mln deal to acquire Tag, the global content production group, which would be one of the largest UK advertising deals of the last 15 years, according to press reports.
The Guardian noted that the move by Dentsu – which became a global force in advertising with its £3.2bn takeover of UK media group Aegis in 2012, the largest-ever deal for a British-based ad group – marks its latest push to challenge rivals including WPP PLC (LSE:WPP), IPG and Omnicom in the US and France’s Publicis Groupe.
Tag employs about 2,700 staff and creates marketing content for clients including New Balance, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Heineken and Unilever. The business has been owned by Advent International since 2017 when the private equity group acquired its British-based marketing services parent company, Williams Lea.
The Guardian said Advent International and Dentsu declined to comment on the deal, which values Tag at as much as €600mln, and the newspaper’s sources said it could yet fall through but is expected to be signed this week.
Dentsu, is the world’s fifth-biggest advertising group by revenues, and the acquisition of Tag would take it into direct competition with businesses such as Hogarth, which is owned by WPP.
..
[ad_2]
