The acquisition of Sapient by Publicis took most people by surprise. After the hugely public disastrous attempt at merging with Omnicom group, it's no wonder that the French holding company was playing its cards close to its chest on this one, but is Sapient worth the premium it paid?
While all parties in the Publicis Groupe are directing media enquiries back to global HQ, there's some chatter that the price was surprising.
Paying $25 share premium for stock that was trading at around $17 on Friday could be seen by some as a bit of a mark up, but others have batted the suggestion away, saying that most digital businesses are attracting a premium, and the acquisition price reflects fair value to the potential Sapient brings to the Publicis Groupe.
Obviously Sir Martin Sorrell, has a thought or two on the deal and in a media call following the acquisition, Publicis chairman Maurice Levy hit out at Sorrell, his nemesis, who didn't hold back from crowing when the Omnicom merger fell apart and dubbed the Sapient deal “the behaviour of a jilted lover".
Levy said Sorrell has a talent for “disdain and hatred” but should leave love to the French as it's not his area of expertise.
There's no love lost there.
It isn't thought that the acquisition will have any immediate effect on the local network, which includes Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, Publicis Mojo, and media agencies ZenithOptimedia and Starcom Mediavest, but it does show that Publicis is thinking differently.
SapientNitro, the Australian arm of the Sapient group which formed when the US group acquired Nitro in 2010, has been pushing its fusion of technology and infrastructure building capabilities with creative nous. It didn't start out well, but the concept of “systems thinking” is gaining momentum. R/GA's Nick Law espoused the need for agencies to balance creative storytelling with processes and building platforms and ecosystems that consumers adopt, at the AANA conference last month.
And Publicis is buying in. Literally.