• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, June 29, 2016

MDC, holding company to the likes of Crispin Porter + Bogusky and 72andSunny, will acquire Swedish agency Forsman & Bodenfors, a 30-year-old creative shop with $40 million in revenues. 

The agency's clients include Procter & Gamble, IKEA and, of course, Volvo, for which the agency created the famed Epic Split ad featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme. 

Forsman & Bodenfors has approximately 300 employees and is the first acquisition under the helm of MDC CEO Scott Kaufman who became CEO after Miles Nadal stepped down following some SEC nastiness. 

Of the acquisition, Kaufman told The Wall Street Journal, “I thought it was really important for the first acquisition to send a clear signal to the marketplace about what makes us unique. Many of the aspects of ad tech are nearing commoditization, but creative innovation is a true differentiator for global marketers.” 

The acquisition will include the formation of a partnership with MDC's Crispin Porter + Bogusky aimed at helping F&B handle clients in areas where CP+B has a strong foothold.  

CP+B's Chuck Porter is happy with the acquisition and said F&B has “figured out a way to institutionalize creative brilliance over two decades and that is a really hard thing to do. We can learn some things from them in terms of how they manage creative. Plus they have a spectacular talent pool.” 

Both Forsman & Bedenfors and Crispin Porter + Bogusky have done their fair share of amazing work over the years. Combining these two creative powerhouses makes a lot of sense and could be a very smart move for MDC.