OGILVY ACQUIRES METROMEDIA

Ogilvy is set to expand yet again with the acquisition of Auckland-based advertising and design agency, Metromedia, capping a year of phenomenal growth.
Ogilvy will acquire 90% of Metromedia while existing stakeholders and Metromedia founders, Paul Manning and Ant Hassett will each retain a 5% share.
From 1 January 2007, Metromedia will be renamed Ogilvy Metro, headed by Manning as Managing Director and Hassett as General Manager.
Operating as a standalone business, Ogilvy Metro will continue to run from its Ponsonby premises, sharing the wider knowledge and resources of Ogilvy where appropriate. This includes Ogilvy’s resource units, production technologies, worldwide knowledge base and propriety tools.
Ogilvy Metro will retain existing clients Fuji Xerox, BMW (retail), House of Travel (design) and Auckland City Council, as well as taking on a range of new business from Ogilvy’s vast client base.
“We are thrilled with the addition of this successful young agency to our business,” says Ogilvy Managing Director, Greg Partington.
“This acquisition is about investing in dynamic, young talent. In just seven years, Metromedia has become New Zealand’s largest independent advertising agency, carrying an extensive range of below the line skills.
“It is an agency of the future with great potential for growth and we want to be part of that.”
Partington also believes Ogilvy Metro will enable them to house competitive conflicts should they arise as a result of an increasing level of convergence among clients in the New Zealand market.
One of Metromedia’s key assets lie with the talents of Paul Manning, who has lead the business since its birth in 1999, and was winner of ‘Young Entrepreneur’ at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in 2005.
Manning believes this next step is, fundamentally, the most important move his agency has ever made.
"Becoming an Ogilvy agency is an exciting move that I believe will deliver immense value to our clients,” says Manning.
“Ogilvy Metro will retain the agility and client-centric culture that has made Metromedia so successful, while having the backing of enviable, world-class resources.
"Ogilvy Metro will be a truly unique agency in the New Zealand market. We will deliver turnaround and efficiency never seen before in this country.
“Ogilvy Metro clients will continue to receive the excellent level of service they have enjoyed and they will now have access to wider expertise and resources.”