Financial Dynamics, one of the UK’s top three financial PR outfits,
hopes to double in size in the next three years following its
acquisition this week by US investment company Lighthouse Holdings.
Agency chief executive Nick Miles plans to recruit at senior and junior
levels. Financial Dynamics currently employs almost 90 staff and counts
a fee income of around pounds 17 million.
The Lighthouse deal, reportedly worth pounds 40 million, comes after
speculation that FD was in talks with communications services groups (PR
Week, 11 June).
As well as supplying cash for new hirings, the takeover provides new
consultants and existing agency staff who were not previously
share-holders with a financial stake in the agency.
Under FD’s previous structure, which resulted from its management
buy-out 17 months ago from advertising agency GGT, there were 19
shareholding partners. These included Miles, group managing director
Julian Hanson-Smith, international MD Hugh Morrison and UK MD Charles
Watson.
Miles said: ’Under the previous system, we did expand, but not as fast
as we wanted. People were less willing to take dramatic steps because we
were paying for it ourselves. We can now take much bolder steps much
quicker.’
He added that he would not be opening new offices overseas, but that he
would be recruiting senior consultants with international PR expertise
and languages. Eighty per cent of FD’s mergers and acquisitions work
comes from outside the UK.
