STUDY: Independent Agencies Are a Dying Breed

Everyone wants a merger.

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A new study by The Stevens Group, a consultancy that advises PR agencies on mergers and acquisitions, reached a nearly universal conclusion: independent agencies want to sell, sell, sell.

This is generally good news for owners — and mixed, if not negative, news for their employees.

Large independent agencies like Edelman on the PR side and Wieden+Kennedy on the advertising side are an increasingly rare breed: everyone has either sold to a holding company, merged with a larger agency, or aspires to move in that direction.

The survey only polled “almost 100 principals,” but their answers were basically unanimous:

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And they’re in a hurry (which may have something to do with the fact that more than 60 percent of respondents are 50 or older):

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The most popular answers on the “why” side were “I want to position my firm to compete” and “I want to cash out and retire.”

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