Havas acquires UK-based agency Ledger Bennett

Havas announces the acquisition of UK-based global B2B marketing agency Ledger Bennett, enhancing its capabilities in the high-growth B2B space both in the UK and internationally. Ledger Bennett will now be branded as ‘Ledger Bennett, a Havas Company’ and join the organization under Havas Media Network. This is the latest strategic acquisition by Havas to evolve its operating model as clients accelerate their transition to become more customer-centric organisations.    

Founded in 1985 by Nicholas Ledger, Ledger Bennett has forged a reputation in B2B marketing centred around its end-to-end ‘Forever Customer’ proposition, which creates a seamless brand experience in the B2B marketing journey, aligning with Havas’ customer-centric evolution strategy. The agency now operates in EMEA, APAC and North America, servicing clients across industrial, tech and services within B2B, including GE Digital and LinkedIn.  

The acquisition is Havas’ latest step to diversify its service offering so that it can better support its clients’ growing digital and data requirements as they transition to be more customer-led. Over the last two years, Havas has acquired Search Laboratory, additive+ and Expert Edge (now Havas Market UK) to bolster capabilities in performance marketing, dynamic creative and content services and commerce. Havas also brought global creative cultural partnerships and activations agency Havas Play to the UK in 2023 and most recently Havas Media Network’s audience and data platform, Converged, as agencies rush to put in place cookieless cross-platform planning-to-activation solutions. 

Ledger Bennett adds further scale and depth to Havas’s B2B capabilities to service the exponential and continuous growth in B2B marketing requirements and budgets, with two-thirds (66%) of B2B marketers expecting their budget to increase or stay the same over the next 12 months, according to LinkedIn. Ledger Bennett’s fully integrated offering also complements the B2B offerings from fellow Havas Village London agencies H/Advisors Maitland and Gate One, in addition to those within Havas Media Network. Ledger Bennett will also look to unlock the latent potential of existing Havas Village capabilities for B2B purposes, such as CX and e-commerce.   

In 2022, Havas Media Network UK launched a dedicated B2B division, Havas Business, to formally kick start its B2B journey and currently works with the likes of 3M, JDE Professional and Maersk for which Havas Business won the Grand Prix at WARC B2B effectiveness in two consecutive years. Havas Business will merge under Ledger Bennett, forming a 100+-person strong B2B specialism within Havas Media Network. 

Ledger Bennett’s London-based staff will move to Havas Village London from March 2024 where the agency will be headed by CEO Andrea Glenn who’ll report to Patrick Affleck, CEO, Havas Media Network UK & Ireland. 

Yannick Bolloré, Chairman and Global CEO, Havas, said: “We are excited to welcome Andrea, the Ledger Bennett team and its impressive list of clients into our Havas family. Bringing together marketing, sales, customer and product teams under the goal of maximizing customer lifetime value is going to be critical for the best brands in the next five years. Ledger Bennett brings a go-to-market solution to our Village that perfectly supports our One Havas strategy. The growth of B2B marketing continues to accelerate and will be important for B2B brands as well as B2C brands with B2B potential.” 

Patrick Affleck, CEO, Havas Media Network UK & Ireland, said: “B2B marketing is ripe for disruption and Ledger Bennett are genuine disruptors within this space. Its ‘Forever Customer’ proposition, which focuses on creating lifetime value is both unique and differentiating and will bring further sophistication to our existing B2B offering. Andrea has done an incredible job at turning Ledger Bennett into a fast-growing business with immediate expansion potential and a compelling highly scalable solution. Importantly, Ledger Bennett is trusted by some of the world’s most ambitious, progressive and sophisticated global businesses, and I’m excited about what we can further build and achieve together.”   

Andrea Glenn, CEO, Ledger Bennett, a Havas company, said: “When we started this process, we wanted to disrupt B2B marketing. Our conversations with Havas have been energising and there’s a palpable ambitious appetite to scale B2B within Havas Media Network and throughout Havas. That’s convinced us Havas would be a great place to accelerate our growth with a combined offering of progressive B2B capabilities from Ledger Bennett and B2C firepower from Havas.”