Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised the owners of Hamburg-based advertising agency Grabarz & Partner on its sale to Omnicom Group (“Omnicom”). The agency retains its name and will operate independently within Omnicom’s Diversified Agency Services (DAS) division. The management team will likewise retain their existing roles going forward. Closing is expected in the third quarter of 2023, subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals.
Founded in 1993, Grabarz & Partner is one of the leading advertising agencies in Germany and worldwide. With more than 270 employees, it serves renowned national and global clients such as Deutsche Bahn, Burger King, IKEA, Lidl and Porsche from its Hamburg headquarters and other locations.
NYSE-listed Omnicom is among the world’s leading marketing and communications companies with more than 5,000 clients in over 70 countries. Through its network agencies and specialist subsidiaries, it provides corporate communications/public relations, advertising and marketing, strategic media planning and buying and various other communications services.
The WFW Hamburg Corporate and M&A team was led by Counsel Torge Rademacher, with support being provided by Senior Associate Sebastian Olbertz and Associate Moritz von Baumbach.
Torge commented: “We’re delighted to have assisted Grabaz & Partner, a client for over a decade, on their strategic sale to Omnicom. The transaction was quite demanding given the complicated shareholding structure and the large number of individuals and shareholder groups involved on the seller’s side. Its successful implementation once again underlines our WFW’s outstanding experience and expertise in M&A transactions in the media sector”.
