• by Larissa Faw , March 15, 2016

Last year, advertising veterans Rob Dickson and Donna Granato launched R&D Venture Partners to specialize in mergers and acquisitions within the ad industry, focusing in the U.S. and Canada.  

Now, the shop is aligning with Green Square, a London based corporate finance and advisory practice, to expand its services to European and Asian markets.  

Through this collaboration, R&D will be better positioned to connect its North American clients to the UK, Europe and Asian markets. Meanwhile, Green Square can do the same for its clients with North American services.  

“Technology has dramatically reshaped how businesses operate and broken down many geographical boundaries.  Whilst many tasks can now be undertaken with a laptop and an internet connection, there is no replacement for direct market knowledge and on the ground physical presence," says Green Square's Tony Walford.  

Today's clients need international footprints. "The M&A market is so global now with new entrants into the U.S. market - this has been particularly characterized by Dentsu Aegis, Hakuhodo (Kyu) and Blue Focus from the ad world and global consultancies such as Accenture and Cap Gemini," says R&D's Rob Dickson. "We can now fully compete on a global basis." 

Both shops will retain their own identities and structures. In addition to R&D's two partners, Green Square has three partners and five staffers, forming a collective of ten. Ultimately this partnership is mainly about efficiencies. Collectively, the three partners have participated in over 100 transactions.