After Time of Tumult, Doner Sells a Stake to MDC

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/04/business/media/doner-after-tumultuous-times-sells-a-stake-to-mdc.html?_r=2&src=busln&nl=business&emc=edit_dlbkam_20120404

DONER, one of the largest independent advertising agencies, is ending its go-it-alone status after 75 years by selling a minority interest to an agency holding group, MDC Partners, that will have the option to take that ownership stake to a majority.       

Doner, based in the Detroit suburb of Southfield, Mich., has an estimated $1 billion in billings and is considered the third largest independent agency by that measure, behind the Richards Group and Wieden & Kennedy. There are 600 Doner employees in Southfield and offices in Cleveland, London and Newport Beach, Calif., who work on the accounts of clients like AutoTrader.com, Avery Dennison, the Chrysler Group, Coca-Cola, Coleman, Serta, Sherwin-Williams and the UPS Store.       

The decision of the Doner principals to cast their lot with a holding company comes after several trying, tumultuous years that included the loss of the agency’s largest account, Mazda North America, for which Doner created the well-known “Zoom-zoom” campaign; lawsuits filed by former executives; questions about the handling of the agency’s employee pension fund; and turnover among senior managers who included the chief executive, chief financial officer, chief marketing officer and the president of the Newport Beach office.