PR Pitches and mergers & acquisitions: July 2023 update

Welcome to the PRmoment Podcast.Welcome to our July review of PR Pitches and mergers & acquisitions in the UK PR scene with Andrew Bloch.Andrew is a co-founder and non-executive director at Frank PR and is now lead consultant - PR, Social, Content and Influencer at the new business consultancy firm AAR. He is also a partner at PCB Partners advising on buying and selling marketing services agencies.Thanks to our PRmoment Podcast sponsors, The PRCA.Do look at the brace of new webinars that we’ve launched on PRmoment, including Social Media in B2B and The Contribution of Comms to ESG. 2 mins Andrew contextualises the state of the new business market in UK PR currently.“In an economy that is a bit shaky…being able to demonstrate effectiveness is more important than ever.”“Why Andrew’s PR agency activity barometer is busier than ever!”8 mins Andrew gives us his rundown of PR pitch wins for July, including:Good Relations wins Starling BankFleishman wins HS1Mischief wins Team GBReady 10 wins Kind SnacksStripe wins Giggling SquidPR Network and Heathrow ExpressAzaria win VTech and LeapfrogNudge wins Kettle chipsMSL wins CurrysKetchum wins Dolmio18 mins Andrews gives us his insight into the Havas Uncommon deal.“It could be a deal that’s worth up to £120m in 6 years time”“Havas already has a reputation as one of the most creative marketing services in the world…and they are doubling down on creativity.”21 mins Andrew explains the £120m valuation of Uncommon on its current fee income of £22m.25 mins Andrew reviews SEC Newgate’s $100m investment from Investcorp, an alternative investment firm, for a 55% stake in the business. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and values SEC Newgate as a $250 m business.28 mins Andrew rounds us off by talking us through some smaller trade deals:The Bigger Boat acquires ScribaBulla acquires Hype CollectiveThere’s a management buyout at Lucre Group which rebrands to Gold79.