NEWS: Lowe Bell purchases MC2 from receivers

Healthcare agency MC2: Medical and Media Communications has gone into

receivership. Lowe Bell Communications has bought the business from the

receivers for an undisclosed amount.

Lowe Bell’s purchase began trading this week as Green Moon Healthcare, a

division of its subsidiary Green Moon.

MC2 was declared insolvent last week by receivers Neville Russell. The

deal with Lowe Bell was concluded last Thursday and a creditors’ meeting

was scheduled for this week.

The agency’s five staff have moved into Green Moon’s offices, taking

seven accounts with them, including business for Sandoz Pharmaceuticals

and Centra Healthcare. The division is headed by MC2’s Mark Cater.

Managing director of MC2 John Stephenson will not join the agency but

may be retained as a consultant.

Stephenson is understood to have been negotiating a sale of the firm to

Windsor-based healthcare advertising agency Miltons, but staff were

unhappy about the move.

Industry sources have blamed the public relations agency’s demise on a

lack of funding and resources.

Information lodged at Companies House lists Stephenson as a director of

eight other companies, focused mainly on international marketing and

trading.

‘Stephenson began diversifying two years ago to strengthen the overall

business but put people, resources and money into the other companies’,

said one industry source.

Stephenson was not available for comment as PR Week went to press.