Havas Group has absorbed HRZN, a German marketing agency best known for its social media work.

HRZN manages multiple facets of its clients’ social network presence. The agency not only produces creative materials for posts but also uses data analytics software to track consumer interactions with a brand’s profiles.

Like many marketing agencies, HRZN hasn’t limited its business focus to one type of customer outreach tactic. Besides social media projects, the company also assists clients with content and ad creation, as well as website development.

No less notable than HRZN’s broad services menu is its extensive roster of clients. The agency works with companies in the auto, consumer goods and retail sectors, three areas where ad budgets tend to account for an especially high percentage of companies’ expenses. 

That makes HRZN a good fit for Havas, which is one of the world’s largest ad agencies. Havas could use HRZN’s client connections in ad-intensive industries like the auto sector to create new income streams. 

The deal is at least the second corporate acquisition Havas has made in Germany within the past five years. It previously bought DAA, a 70-strong PR firm with offices in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Berlin.

In both the DAA and HRZN deals, Havas didn’t make an outright acquisition. Rather, the firm bought a majority stake in the two firms.

That’s usually a sign the top executives of the acquired marketing agency retained a small number of shares. This arrangement is beneficial for both parties. 

The executives who kept shares in their agency can sell them at a higher price later on if the agency does well under the new ownership. For the new ownership, the benefit is that the executives still have skin in the game and are incentivized to keep up the pre-acquisition pace.

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