Carat has finalised its takeover of the Scottish media agency,
Feather Brooksbank, and is merging it with its Manchester office to
create the UK’s largest regional media specialist.
The merged operation will have billings of more than pounds 105 million
spread across three offices in Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow, with a
client portfolio that includes Standard Life and Scottish Power.
The poor performance of Carat Manchester, which has lost several major
pieces of business in the past 12 months, is understood to have been a
prime driver of the deal.
Carat has paid an initial consideration of pounds 7.5 million for
Feather Brooksbank, with an earn-out package for its senior management.
The merged entity will trade under the Feather Brooksbank name as the
Carat brand is removed from the regions. Ray Kelly, the chief executive
of Carat in northern Europe, said: ’The new company will be in a
dominant position in the North and has enormous growth opportunities
ahead of it.’
In the same week, Carat’s parent company, Aegis, has seen its share
price rise 10p to an all-time high of 170p. Two investment companies are
understood to have bought more than ten million shares amid rumours that
WPP could be building a stake in the network.
