Wanted down under: Havas snaps up Frontier Australia
French ad giant Havas Group announced today that it has taken a majority interest in Australia’s leading independent performance marketing agency, Frontier Australia.
Frontier Australia will be integrated into Havas Group’s Edge Performance Network (EPN), the largest global performance marketing network.
Frontier Australia was founded in 1998 by Neil Hoar, and, through the efforts of Hoar and his partners Steven King and Dan O’Brien, Frontier Australia has become the leading full-service performance marketing agency in Australia.
Yannick Bolloré, Chairman and chief exec of Havas Group, said on the move: “Frontier Australia is recognised for driving client marketing budget ROI by connecting the science of direct response and the art of brand advertising.”
“Their addition to our global network will provide localised performance marketing expertise and valuable insights across all channels for the EPN network and its extensive roster of global clients looking to expand into the Australian marketplace. We are thrilled to officially welcome the Frontier Australia team to our Group.”
Steven King, Co-CEO of Frontier Australia added: “We can’t speak highly enough of the global EPN network, run by Steve Netzley and his leadership team. Their commercial vision, entrepreneurial mindset and focus on delivering what is really important to clients is completely aligned with ours. In them, we feel like we have found a true and trusted partner.”
“Together, we very much look forward to continuing what has always been our priority – to grow our clients’ businesses and have a materially positive impact on their success.”
Frontier Australia will continue using their brand locally while adding branding representative of their Edge Performance Network membership.
The move comes as part of Havas’ wider policy of snapping up other agencies across the world, including its recent “eight-figure deal” with UK-based Inviqa.