How to buy a PR agency

Welcome to the PRmoment podcast. Today, we're thrilled to be joined by Lou Hoffman, founder and CEO of Hoffman. Hoffman is an independent US based PR firm with a fee income of approximately $30m. Lou founded the business in 1987.Hoffman specialises in tech PR and recently bought CCGroup in the UK. Hoffman has offices in North America, the UK and Asia. It employs about 460 people globally.Before we start,our PR Masterclass the Agency Growth Forum is now live. Virtual and face to face tickets are now available.Check out PRmasterclasses.com or the homepage of PRmoment for the full speaker lineup.Also, thanks so much to the PRmoment Podcast sponsors the PRCA.Here are the key themes which Lou and PRmoment founder Ben Smith discussed:Lou talks us through the reasons for buying a PR Agency? What are the advantages of acquiring an agency versus organic growth? Hoffman has only made two acquisitions since 1987. Is that regret for Lou?  Does he wish he'd made more?  Is it sensible to use debt to purchase a PR firm, or is it better to do it from historical profit?  How do you buy a PR firm? What does the process look like? There are plenty of examples of PR agency acquisitions that haven't worked out, how do you maximise your chances of success? Practically speaking, how can you get to know agencies before you buy them?  How long should an acquisition process take, because whilst it's very important to be thorough, momentum is important? Is a perfect match ever possible?  Which professional advisors as an acquirer should you have? How does it work with the agency you're about to acquire clients? Do you talk to them pre or post the deal?  How does an earn out work for the previous owners of the business?  Post deal it can get difficult, what are the best ways to make it work?  The legal fees can be very high. So does that mean that for micro deals you either have to take a punt and be less thorough? Or is there a level of acquisition at which it's really not worth it from a purchaser's perspective?