by MarkLives (@marklives) Dentsu Aegis Network and FoxP2 have issued a holding statement, pending regulatory approval, on Dentsu Aegis Network’s proposed acquisition of a shareholding in the latter. FoxP2, one of South Africa’s leading creative agencies, launched in 2005 and employs 83 people across its Cape Town and Johannesburg agencies.

“FoxP2 has declined many approaches from global advertising networks over the last decade,” says Charl Thom, FoxP2 CEO. “We never wanted to be another arrow in a quiver but, given the fact that Dentsu Aegis Network does not have a creative agency in South Africa, the opportunity for us as entrepreneurial founders to retain a meaningful stake in the business and, most importantly, the opportunity to truly stretch and improve our offering to our clients, made this a natural next step in FoxP2’s evolution. We are going to have access to a broad range of global and local skills, services and tools, as well as an authentic network on the African continent.”

“Gap in our market product offering”

“I am really looking forward to the collaboration with FoxP2,” says Koo Govender, Dentsu Aegis Network South Africa CEO. “There was definitely a gap in our market product offering for creative and design services. FoxP2 not only fills this gap with their award-winning creativity and accolades, but there is a magical chemistry among our teams. There are many synergies on how we could acquire and add value to more clients as a team. Together, we will make huge strides in the industry.”

Creative services only represent 15% of Dentsu Aegis Network Sub-Saharan Africa’s revenue, according to Dawn Rowlands, Dentsu Aegis Network SSA CEO, “currently making this environment an ideal space to grow our business. We have attracted the attention of a number of creative agencies across the region, but have focused on agencies with the top creative accolades combined with profitability. This lead us to FoxP2, a leading independent creative agency in South Africa. There are a number of opportunities to integrate Dentsu Aegis Network’s services into FoxP2’s clients’ and vice versa.”

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