HAMBURG--Interpublic Group has acquired Nicole Weber Communications (NWC), a German consumer lifestyle firm that becomes part of GolinHarris’ European network.
The deal marks the second IPG PR acquisition in recent months, after the holding group bought Brazil’s S2/Publicom last year. NWC brings around 25 staffers in Hamburg and Munich to GolinHarris, along with a client roster that includes Unilever, Henkel Cosmetics, REnault, Asos.de and Coral Mexx.
It is understood that GolinHarris held talks with NWC for 12 months, culminating in an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the German firm. The two recent buys follows GolinHarris' decade-long absence from the agency M&A market.
“We’re just being very careful about choosing partners that are a perfect fit for us culturally,” GolinHarris global CEO Fred Cook told the Holmes Report. “It has to be a situation where both agencies benefit.”
Nicole Weber who founded NWC in 1996, will report to GolinHarris’ London-based international president Matt Neale. Fellow international president Jon Hughes said that GolinHarris was now in a position to “address gaps in our capabilities from a position of strength.”
Last year, GolinHarris announced an ambitious agency redesign, part of a three-pronged strategy that aims to expand the firm’s geographic footprint, and practice area capabilities. “By joining the GolinHarris network, my clients will have a new level of global reach and access to some of the most innovative minds in the communications field,” said Weber.
NWC will retain its branding and work alongside GolinHarris’ existing German presence in Frankfurt.