MediaPost reported White holding company IPG executed a huge pruning—literally—selling Huge to global private investment firm AEA. Next on the list to be pruned is probably R/GA, although IPG refused to confirm anything, saying “it does not comment on rumors or market speculation.”
Nope, the White holding company only spews DEIBA+ gobbledygook.
IPG Sells Agency Huge To Investment Company AEA
By Steve McClellan
Interpublic announced today that it has sold its digital agency Huge to AEA Investors, a global private investment firm.
IPG noted Huge is being merged with another AEA unit Hero Digital. Terms of the deal are not being disclosed.
IPG confirmed in July that it was considering the sale of both of its digital agencies—Huge and R/GA—which have been struggling to remain competitive and have proven to be a drag on IPG’s financials for the last couple of years.
There were reports earlier this year that the company held discussions to sell R/GA to tech giant Tata Consulting Services—based in India but with a sizeable North American presence.
It’s not clear if those talks are ongoing and there was speculation that the sides were far apart on a valuation for the agency. IPG has said it does not comment on rumors or market speculation.
Last year Huge unveiled a major revamping of its service offering, a two-year long endeavor that was chronicled in a book by Michael Farmer called Madison Avenue Makeover: The Transformation of Huge and The Redefinition of the Ad Business (LID Publishing).
A major objective was to move away from a project-focused business model to a solutions model with products and fixed pricing that could drive client growth as well as its own, Mat Baxter, then CEO of the agency said when the revamp was unveiled.
Baxter was succeeded by Lisa De Bonis as CEO of Huge in January.
AEA acquired Hero Digital in 2021. Jay Dettling is CEO of the agency.
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