Thursday, May 6, 2010

IWCO Direct Announces Agreement to Acquire Transcontinental Direct US Operations

http://www.iwco.com/news/releases/20100210.html
IWCO Direct, a leading, U.S.-based privately held provider of direct marketing solutions has announced it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Transcontinental Direct’s US operations, a high-volume direct mail organization with a network of facilities throughout the United States. Transcontinental Direct’s parent company, Transcontinental, is the largest printer in Canada and Mexico and Canada’s leading consumer magazine publisher. This acquisition positions IWCO Direct’s platform as an unrivaled solution in the industry for the optimization, execution, and delivery of direct marketing campaigns. Terms of the deal are not yet disclosed; the transaction is expected to close in the spring of 2010.

Interpublic Group Posts Narrower Loss

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703572504575213913097932210.html?mod=WSJ_business_whatsNews

Interpublic Group of Cos., still struggling to recover from the recession's flight of ad-spending dollars, reported a loss for the first quarter that was only slightly narrower than a year earlier. The company was hampered by several key account losses that are expected to weigh on its earnings this year.

McCann WorldGroup, Interpublic's largest unit, lost business on lucrative accounts such as Microsoft Corp., Intel Corp., and Verizon Wireless.

Marshall Fenn acquires digital agency Webfeat

http://www.marketingmag.ca/english/news/agency/article.jsp?content=20100324_170107_552
Advertising and public relations firm Marshall Fenn has acquired Webfeat Mulitmedia, a 13-year old digital agency.

The agency has been searching for a digital agency for more than a year, and began serious discussions with Webfeat last autumn.

The deal will see former Webfeat owner Andrea Gerard leaving the organization, however all other Webfeat staff–including David Zbar, vice-president, client service and Meredith MacKeigan, vice-president client strategy–will remain with the team, which is in the process of moving into the Marshall Fenn offices.

"We've believed in convergence for some time now, and have been practising integrated communications, including interactive for several years. It's crucial to the future of marketing communications," said Jim Kabrajee, a partner at Marshall Fenn. "We plan to integrate Webfeat into Marshall Fenn to create an agency of cross-disciplinary marketing experts."

Webfeat's culture matched that of his agency, Kabrajee told Marketing. "And a lot of it comes down to a shared vision of the future. We think there will not be advertising agencies and digital agencies. There will just be an agency. That didn't play well with other shops, but it did with Webfeat."

At 33 staff members prior to the acquisition, Marshall Fenn had some digital expertise prior to the acquisition. Jane Ricciadelli, who remains with the agency, managed interactive strategy and development, but "everything else went out of house, like most other agencies," said Kabrajee.
Believing digital expansion would increase business opportunities, Kabrajee and partner Paul Chater elected to acquire, rather than build, a digital shop to expand quickly.

The name of the now-expanded agency has not been finalized. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Originally published in Marketing Magazine,

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