Huntsworth has acquired San-Francisco-based agency Giant Creative Strategy for an initial cash consideration of $72.2m, however that figure could be raised to as much as $97.2m.
The amount, which will be funded from existing debt facilities, is entirely dependent on Giant’s earnings between the years of 2019 and 2021. Last year however, the group reported revenue of around $32m.
Following the transaction, Giant’s founders, chief executive Steven Gold and president Adam Gelling will remain with the multichannel agency along with its 150 staff members.
Giant’s future will see its combined with Huntsworth’s existing marketing agency Evoke Health, a New York-based health and wellness agency.
Reid Connolly, chief executive of Evoke Group, said: “Clients continue to look for opportunities to work with fewer agency partners on larger remits – consolidating business to those with proven and differentiated credentials and expertise in all key brand areas.
“Evoke has built our offering to accommodate this market shift and the addition of Giant adds an even more robust and differentiated HCP marketing offering to the group, as well as expanded geographic reach.”
Giant, which has a roster of pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device clients will boost Evoke’s capabilities in data and analytics while tapping into Evoke’s marketing power.
Paul Taaffe, Huntsworth chief executive, said: “Giant is a strong addition to the Group, bringing scale in healthcare professional marketing.
“This expansion of Huntsworth makes it an even more compelling alternative to the large holding company networks.”
Huntsworth currently operates from 46 main hubs across 19 countries. The group has divisions in the fields of communications, medical and marketing.