US-based Stagwell Group today announced its has acquired Forward3D Group, a global performance marketing agency headquartered in London.
Stagwell, a digital marketing investment group founded by Mark Penn – a former adviser to the Clintons who now acts as the group’s managing partner and president – said the deal will make his business one of the largest independent performance marketers in the world.
“Forward3D brings a great international performance marketing group to the Stagwell family,” Penn said.
“Forward3D helps clients every day in 50 languages across more than 20 search and social platforms around the world. With PMX Agency and Forward3D as part of the Stagwell Group, we are now one of the world’s largest independent performance marketers.”
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Forward3D Group runs digital marketing campaigns using linguistics, data science and technology. It specialises in international, online direct response campaigns and has offices in ten countries.
“We are delighted to be part of The Stagwell Group,” said Martin McNulty, Forward3D Group CEO. “We fully believe in the vision Mark Penn has set out for the future of agency networks, and feel this aligns with our own vision and strengths as an agency.
Results International, which served as financial advisor to Forward3D during the deal, said digital marketing – and performance marketing in particular – continues to grow at pace, with mergers and acquisitions being driven by the need for international scale as the world’s largest global brands demand a truly international service.
“The Stagwell Group’s acquisition of Forward3D Group is the latest deal where a disruptive US acquirer looks to the UK for a platform to drive growth outside of the US,” said Mark Williams, director at Results International. “Cognizant’s acquisition of digital agency Zone is another recent example.”
Terms of the Stagwell deal were not disclosed.
