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| John Wren |
Omnicom’s PR group posted another down quarter as organic revenues slipped 2.9 percent to $417M during Q4.
The Ketchum, Marina Maher Communications, Portland, Porter Novelli and FleishmanHillard group declined 5.5 percent organically during Q3 and 0.2 percent for all of 2023.
In a sharp contrast to PR, the advertising & media group chalked up 9.3 percent in Q4 organic growth to $2.3B and a 6.5 percent advance for the full year.
Overall, OMC CEO John Wren reported a 4.4 percent spurt in Q4 organic growth to $4.1B and a 4.1 percent jump to $14.7B for 2023.
Wren said the firm is “set up well with solid fundamentals, tremendous opportunities in digital commerce and retail media from the Flywheel acquisition and momentum in new business wins.”
Continental Europe, which generated 20.4 percent of Q4 revenues, was OMC’s star regional performer as it rose 14.1 percent to $829M on an organic basis.
The US (47.8 percent of revenues) grew 0.6 percent (on a reported and organic basis) to $1.9B during the quarter. Asia Pacific (12.9 percent of revenues) was up 10.9 percent. The UK (10.4 percent of revenues) grew 5.8 percent.
Prosek Partners handles New York’s Tilray Brands, craft beer & cannabis operation, as it acquires BrewDog, a leading British independent beer producer in the UK, for $45M.
Brunswick Group handles Zurich Insurance as it agrees to buy UK-based Beazley specialty insurer in a deal valued at $11B.
FGS Global represents Brink’s as it agrees to acquire NCR Atleos, which relies on Collected Strategies, in a $6.6B cash & stock deal to create a leading fintech infrastructure company. (Updated)
A January article in O’Dwyer’s proposes that in 2026, the strongest financial brands will not simply tell compelling stories—they will “signal readiness.”
C Street Advisory Group is working the Chapter 11 filing of Axip Energy Services as it unloads its nearly all of its assets to deal with a heavy debt load.
