Interpublic buys Deutsch

LONDON (Brand Republic) - The Interpublic Group of Companies has acquired New York-based advertising agency Deutsch. Terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed, but the deal is estimated to be worth $200m-$300m.

Deutsch, which is the last of the big US independent agencies, will remain as a standalone agency within Interpublic, alongside McCann-Erickson Worldwide and Lowe Lintas Worldwide. The deal will allow Deutsch to expand globally and develop itself as Interpublic’s third string network.

Deutsch is 87%-owned by principal Donny Deutsch, with the remainder of the agency owned by five other partners. It has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston, with billings of $1.2bn in 1999.

Interpublic is said to have been courting the company since former chief executive Phil Geier met Deutsch last year. New CEO John Dooner has been working on the deal since he took over from Geier earlier this year.

It is thought that the agency’s clients, which include Mitsubishi, Domino’s Pizza and pharmaceutical multinational Pfizer, have been notified of the deal. Dooner is reported to have cleared any potential conflict with existing automotive clients at Interpublic, General Motors.

Last year the agency said it was opening a London office, but this failed to materialise.

Deutsch was founded as a print company in 1969 by David Deutsch. His son, Donny, took over the running of the company in 1989.

According to Dooner, “Deutsch is the model in our industry of how excellence in creativity and business solutions can drive continuing expansion. But what makes Deutsch stand out is not just its creative awards and overall growth, but Donny Deutsch and his management team’s vision and drive that has transformed his company from a leading creative ad agency into a leading creative marketing communications firm as well. We share the same strategic goal of offering a broad range of the highest-quality marketing communications capabilities, while also providing top-level strategic and creative services.”

Deutsch added, “The reason I’m enthusiastic about our joining up with Interpublic is because John Dooner and I share the same values about the importance of meeting each client’s needs for growth with the right total integrated solution.”

In addition to its advertising agencies, it includes operations in sales promotion, direct marketing (DirectDeutsch), public relations and event marketing (Deutsch PR/Promotions), online communications (iDeutsch) and urban youth marketing (dRush). Its accounts include Bank One, DirecTV, Domino’s, Lenscrafters, Microsoft’s Expedia.com, Mitsubishi Motors, Pfizer, Snapple, SunAmerica and Tommy Hilfiger.

This article was first published on brandrepublic.com