• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, February 27, 2012

MDC Partners, the Toronto-based agency holding company, generated 2011 revenues of $943.3 million, up 37% from 2010. But the company posted a nearly $85 million net loss for the year versus a $15 million loss in 2010, due largely to continued acquisitions and other expansion-related investments.

Much of the revenue percentage was acquisition-driven, although organic revenue growth was also up a healthy 17% for the year, and nearly 7% for the fourth quarter. That’s higher than MDC’s holding company competition, albeit from a much smaller revenue base. Last week, for example, the Interpublic Group of Companies said it grew 8% for the year to over $7 billion, with organic revenue growth (ORG) of 6.1% for 2011 and 2.8% for the fourth quarter.  

Meanwhile, MDC will hit the $1 billion revenue mark for the first time in 2012, CFO David Doft told analysts on a conference call to discuss 2011 results Monday afternoon. And it’s possible, said Doft, that revenues could reach $1.025 billion.

Company officials said net new business for 2011 totaled $104 million, and that the new business pipeline remains “robust” so far in 2012. Recent wins include Arby’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Under Armour.

MDC has expanded aggressively over the last two years, spending $150 million on 20 acquisitions, said company CEO Miles Nadal. This year the company will ease up somewhat on acquisitions and focus on organic revenue growth and reducing debt levels. It recently reduced its headcount by 300 positions.

That said, MDC won’t stop acquisitions completely. Nadal told analysts he felt the company was at a “strategic disadvantage,” given its lack of scale on the media side of the business. The company has indicated that it intends to bulk up in that sector.

Earlier this year, MDC purchased New York-based independent media shop R.J. Palmer, saying at the time the holding company’s goal was to reach $10 billion in billings over the next five to 10 years. The RJP acquisition added billings of over $800 million and nearly doubled MDC’s total, bringing it to nearly $2 billion.

But Nadal also said that continuing to add agencies to the MDC portfolio with digital, social media and analytic capabilities would also help the company win new business more rapidly.