 |
Finsbury Glover Hering, which is majority-owned by WPP, is merging with Sard Verbinnen & Co. to create a firm they say chalked up $330M in combined 2020 revenues and will have more than 1,000 staffers in 25 offices throughout the world.
The transaction values the combined group at $917M and SVC at $303M. FGH, which had gross assets of $426.8M at year-end 2020, registered pre-tax profit of $53.5M.
SVC earned $36.4M on $52.2M in gross assets.
Headquartered in New York, FGH CEO Alexander Geiser and COO Sydney Neuhaus will continue as leaders of the combined entity.
SVC co-founder George Sard will join FGH’s Roland Rudd and Carter Eskew as co-chairmen.
The merger combines two firms with a “heritage of delivering for our clients at their most high-pressure moments,” Sard and SVB co-founder Paul Verbinnen said in a statement.
It creates a strategic communications powerhouse in government affairs, corporate reputation and crisis management as well as a leader in financial communications with strengths in M&A activity, private equity, IPOs, SPACs, shareholder activism and restructurings.
WPP will own 57.4 percent of FGH-SVC. FGH/SVC managers will control about 40 percent. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the year and the company will have a new name in 2022.
Public Policy Holding Company grew 27.5 percent to $50.1M during Q1, powered by the accelerating contribution from recent acquisitions and a 5.1 percent hike in organic revenues across its three operating segments.
Institutional Shareholder Services advises investors to vote "no" on a compensation package for WPP chief Cindy Rose at the May 8 annual meeting.
FTI Consulting chalked up a 9.5 percent rise in Q1 revenues to $983.3M, powered by gains in its PR, corporate finance and technology segments.
Stagwell reports 4 percent growth in Q1 net revenues to $585M and a record $141M in net new business wins.
WPP reported a 6.7 percent drop to $3.1B in Q1 like-like revenues less pass-through costs. CEO Cindy Rose says 'it will take time to outpace historical losses."
