Havas Acquires Indie Agency HYLAND

Havas Group has announced the acquisition of Sydney-based independent media agency, HYLAND, as part of the Group’s strategic plans across ANZ to provide a comprehensive and agile offering to new and existing clients and offer a more distinct proposition in the increasingly sophisticated media landscape.

HYLAND’s specialists will integrate into Havas Media Group to form a bigger and even more dynamic team with an extensive set of skills and in-depth knowledge base. The new team will see Havas Media Group reach a milestone of over 100 people in the Sydney office with the increased scale providing further growth opportunities for staff from both agency brands.

Founded in 2005, HYLAND has constantly expanded and is today renowned for creating highly integrated, content-rich experiences working with luxury, beauty, travel, B2B and lifestyle brands which will complement Havas Media Group’s client portfolio and its deep data and performance marketing capability. Their client portfolio includes COTY, Etihad Airways, Sydney Airport, Deliveroo and Church & Dwight.

Anthony Freedman, chairman, Havas Group ANZ, said: “HYLAND has an extremely talented team with great pedigree for delivering consistent, high-quality outputs and results for clients, which has been key to the agency’s ongoing success. Bringing HYLAND into Havas Media Group gives us further scale to enhance the Group’s ability to deliver the broadest range of media and content experiences for our clients and support our progressive service offerings from content through to sponsorships and data analytics. It also provides further stability to clients at a time when they need it most. We’re looking forward to welcoming the team into our Sydney Village and adding an even greater depth of skills and expertise to our existing team.”

Virginia Hyland (main photo), founder and CEO, HYLAND, added: “I am excited for the HYLAND team to be joining forces with Havas. The decision to form this partnership was one of the biggest I’ve ever had to make. In choosing Havas Media Group, I know we have found a partner that will continue to celebrate our agility and creative team spirit, illustrated already through Havas’ history of acquiring and embracing entrepreneurial businesses.

“In the new COVID world we can continue to do great work that delivers success for clients whilst accessing a greater pool of resource and capabilities. Both businesses enjoy similar values and philosophies. Our centres of excellence are extremely complementary which will provide an amazing one stop destination for marketers looking for an alternative integrated agency approach,” Hyland said.

Yannick Bolloré, Chairman & CEO, Havas Group commented: “We are thrilled to welcome HYLAND to the Havas family. HYLAND is highly regarded as a leading media agency in Australia and their agility, entrepreneurial thinking and integrated organisation make them a perfect fit within the Havas Group. This acquisition willfurther strengthen our activities in Australia and confirms our commitment in this market.”

Peter Mears, Global CEO, Havas Media Group added: “HYLAND’s integrated approach to media aligns with Havas Media Group’s philosophy of creating meaningful media experiences (Mx) – a process that goes beyond the basics of reach and frequency to combine the right connections, context and content to influence consumer behaviour. We are thrilled to have them join the group.”

The HYLAND team will move into the Havas Village in Sydney next month as a division within Havas Media Group with Virginia Hyland taking the role of Managing Director, HYLAND Division, working alongside Mike Wilson, Chairman, Havas Media Group ANZ and Matt Houltham, CEO, Havas Media Group ANZ, on the agency’s senior leadership team.

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