WPP's former dealmaker is joining investment bank Canaccord Genuity — a sign advertising M&A could heat up

• Canaccord Genuity is hiring ex-WPP dealmaker Lance Maerov to activity connected advertisement and media M&A.
• Maerov's hiring suggests location could beryllium a coming emergence successful deals connected Madison Avenue.
• The advertisement manufacture is undergoing large changes amid caller technologies and varying fortunes among firms.

Canadian finance slope Canaccord Genuity is hiring a erstwhile apical dealmaker astatine advertizing elephantine WPP to subordinate its advertizing and media mergers and acquisitions practice, Business Insider tin exclusively reveal.

Lance Maerov, who near WPP successful December, is group to subordinate Canaccord Genuity's technology, media, marketing, and accusation M&A practice, 2 group acquainted pinch nan matter told BI. The institution informed unit earlier this week, 1 of nan group said. They requested anonymity successful bid to support business relationships. Their identities are known to BI.

Canaccord Genuity didn't respond to requests for comment.

The move to grow nan bank's media and advertizing believe by hiring a prolific Madison Avenue dealmaker is simply a beardown awesome that acquisitions successful nan agency abstraction could power up. Recent Canaccord Genuity deals successful nan advertisement and media abstraction see nan waste of Mars United Commerce to Publicis Groupe, Verve Group's acquisition of Jun Group, and AdTheorent's waste to Novacap-owned Cadent.

The advertizing manufacture is undergoing extremist alteration that's fueling woody activity

The advertizing agency scenery has transformed successful caller years amid nan advent of integer trading and nan emergence of caller exertion and practices, from artificial intelligence to retail media. Agencies person responded by adapting their services to suit a broader array of customer needs than simply creating and buying their ads, arsenic successful decades past.

It's been marked by a activity of high-profile acquisitions, specified arsenic Publicis Groupe's $4.4 cardinal acquisition of nan information business Epsilon successful 2019 and, much recently, Omnicom acquiring e-commerce master Flywheel Digital for $835 cardinal past year.

The varying fortunes of different ad-holding companies, arsenic good arsenic an emergence of caller entrants — and a increasing liking successful nan abstraction from backstage equity — person besides fueled speculation that agency groups, too, could beryllium merged aliases acquired.

Rumors proceed to buzz successful nan manufacture astir what mightiness beryllium next for WPP, erstwhile nan leader of nan pack, whose marketplace worth has dropped good beneath that of arch-rivals Publicis and Omnicom. (On Wednesday, WPP reported a return to gross growth successful its 3rd quarter, which analysts mostly hadn't expected.)

The Wall Street Journal reported this summertime that IPG was successful talks to waste R/GA, its integer agency famed for its activity connected Nike, to Tata Global Consulting. S4 Capital, led by erstwhile WPP main Martin Sorrell, turned down an acquisition connection from rival patient Stagwell earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal first reported.

Maerov, who worked nether Sorrell astatine WPP arsenic its EVP of firm development, was responsible for nan company's M&A and task superior investments. He besides worked intimately pinch existent CEO Mark Read and main operating serviceman Andrew Scott.

Maerov worked for WPP for much than 20 years, during which clip it made transformative acquisitions, specified arsenic nan 2007 acquisition of integer trading institution 24/7 Real Media and nan 2015 acquisition of British media agency Essence.

Through WPP's investments, Maerov sat connected nan committee of companies including The Weinstein Company, Vice Media, IT patient Globant, and nan manner website Refinery29. He would later testify against Harvey Weinstein successful nan proceedings that yet sent nan movie mogul to jail.

This year, Maerov branched retired connected his own, launching Dinmont Ridge, a strategical proposal and investment-capital consulting firm.