Interesting that Mark Penn’s Stagwell reports its full year results a few hours after WPP – and this year there could hardly be a more stark contrast.
Stagwell’s overall net revenue grew 14% to $2.3bn (WPP’s inched downwards to £11.4bn) and its creativity and communications division, which includes agencies Anomaly and 72andSunny, grew in line, up 25% in the final quarter. WPP’s agency woes were compounded by a grim Q4 in which revenue fell 6.5%.
Stagwell is about a fifth of WPP but its fortunes under Penn do seem to indicate that there is still life in such companies. Penn obviously saw value in the old MDC (which resolutely refused to make money) and blended its legacy agency business successfully (so far) with his tech-based empire.
CEO Penn (left) says: “2024 was a breakthrough year for Stagwell and has fuelled a strong start to 2025. We re-established ourselves as the fastest growing business in the industry, accelerated rapidly in digital transformation, took advantage of an unprecedented U.S. election cycle, and made strategic investments to expand our capabilities and geographical reach. I’m looking forward to a strong 2025.”
US presidential elections only come every four years (one D. Trump permitting) but a confident Stagwell is on the M&A trail. It made an overture to Sir Martin Sorrell’s struggling S4 Capital late last year. 2025 should see some sizeable M&A deals and Stagwell is likely to be a player.
