Dentsu Aegis has continued its push into the creative market, turning its attention to New Zealand with a majority shareholding in Barnes, Catmur & Friends (BC&F).
Under the new arrangement Dentsu Aegis will have a majority share in the business which will be renamed BC&F Dentsu. The agency will be positioned as the “flagship creative agency brand” of the network in New Zealand.
Founder Daniel Barnes and Paul Catmur will remain in their roles leading the agency, and will be supported by general manger Luke Farmer.
Newly minted CEO of the Dentsu Aegis Network Australia & New Zealand Simon Ryan says: “It is great to further support our growth mantra in New Zealand and expand our service capability with this acquisition.
“Our scale and specialist service offering is market leading and it’s exciting to see a proper client-focused operating model in play, with the addition of BC&F Dentsu driving this further."
The acquisition marks another step in Dentsu's push into the creative agency landscape. Last year, the Japanese network acquired digital agency Soap Creative and creative agency BWM within weeks of each other. Both agencies were renamed to reflect the new ownership structure.
Dentsu Aegis Network New Zealand CEO Rob Harvey says the BC&F acquisition is another step towards the network achieve its strategic goals in New Zealand.
“BC&F share many of our values, not the least of which is a dedication to innovation and collaboration to deliver results for clients,” Harvey says.
“Their business is very complementary to our group from both a capability and cultural perspective. We have no desire to change the things that have made BC&F so successful in the past.”
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