Advertising and marketing giant WPP, through Ogilvy & Mather Asia, has acquired a third of Australian digital communications company DTDigital from STW Group, as the entities prepare to take on a number of new projects focused locally and overseas.
The move comes after DTDigital founder David Trewern sold his company to STW over a number of years, ending in 2010. The business, founded in 1996, has grown from $1 million after it first joined STW in 2003 to over $14 million, with 110 full-time staff in Melbourne.
The sale also comes as Trewern, who sits on the board, prepares to launch a Sydney division of the firm.
“We started working with Ogilvy awhile ago, ever since 2007. From our point of view, this just further cements the relationship with Ogilvy and it doesn’t change anything from an operational point of view.”
“It gives us another vote of confidence in the business, in terms of a global view.”
Trewern, who has previously blogged for SmartCompany and sister-site StartupSmart, says although he is not a shareholder he will remain just as involved in the business as he has been the past few years.
“For me this is a great endorsement for the business I started 16 years ago, in that it’s going in the right direction. Even though I’m not a shareholder, I still think it’s great it continues to evolve and develop.”
“I’m still very involved. I’ve always wanted to make decisions that were the best for the business. I’ve made some choices my peers may not have made, such as selling DTDigital to STW, but I think all these things helped DT flourish.”
In a statement, STW chief executive Mike Connaghan said while the company doesn’t usually sell parts of its assets, “the logic in this instance was overwhelming”.
“DTDigital already partners closely with Ogilvy Group Melbourne, and there are intentions to expand this partnership with Ogilvy to other markets.”
The deal brings into line the ownership between all the entities. Now, STW owns 66.7% of Ogilvy Group, with WPP owning the remaining third.
“We’ve had a very successful partnership,” says Trewern. “We’ve spent a fair bit of time with Ogilvy in Asia, and they’re really excited to offer something new and bring some different skills to the table, such as user experience and eCommerce, which hopefully, over time, will allow more opportunity for DT.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
