Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton's former political adviser in 2008, is out to reinvent the advertising holding company. Penn, according to a report in the
Journal, has lured $250 million in
funding and is building what he hopes will be a new kind of advertising co. "to challenge the ultra-scale-driven model of the four giant 'holding companies' that dominate the marketplace." Penn's
private-equity fund, Stagwell Group, is looking for acquisitions after completing three since it was launched last year—public relations firm SKDKnickerbocker, research firm NRG and Code and
Theory, a digital creative agency. Penn's no stranger to adland--he held several executive roles within WPP Group. So how will Stagwell be different? Apparently it aims to create “a Noah’s
Ark with one of a kind,” Penn said, meaning that its holdings will offer services that complement rather than directly compete with one another.
Read the whole story at Wall Street Journal »