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.
