Fusion Corporate Partners

Ogilvy & Mather has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Ogilvy South Africa, subject to obtaining regulatory approvals.  Completed, the deal will increase Ogilvy & Mather’s ownership of the agency from a 49.9 to 59 percent stake. The deal comes on the heels of another recent deal completed last April  the formation of a joint venture with African marketing services giant Scangroup.

Established in 1984, Ogilvy SA employs over 700 staff across 12 companies, with offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.  It is the No. 1 agency network in South Africa in both revenue and creativity, according to AdReview’s most recent agency ranking.  In 2010, it was awarded the AdReview Ad Group of the Year.  It provides a diverse range of services to clients including advertising, digital and interactive, activation, promotions, internal marketing, CRM, shopper marketing, PR, channel planning and relationship marketing.  Ogilvy SA clients include a mix of local and multinational companies including BP, Cell C, KFC, MultiChoice and SABMiller.

Miles Young, Global CEO of Ogilvy & Mather, said, “Obtaining majority share of our South African operations was an inevitable next step for our growth strategy in Africa, which I passionately believe is one of the last great frontiers in global communications.  While the acquisition has made our majority ownership official, I’ve always felt that Ogilvy SA has embodied the Ogilvy values and spirit no less so than any of our wholly owned offices.  It is one of our network’s strongest performers in terms of creativity and business growth.  I toast all my partners in Ogilvy SA and welcome them officially to the Ogilvy family with which they have been associated for so long.  They are the ‘best of the best,’ and as a full part of our network they will give to us much more than just geographic presence.”About Ogilvy South Africa

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