• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, August 3, 2021

More than a year in the making, the merger of MDC Partners and Stagwell was officially completed Monday Aug. 2, after shareholders approved the transaction late last month.

The newly combined company, named Stagwell Inc., began trading on the NASDAQ exchange today under the new ticker STGW.

Stagwell has set a growth target of $3 billion in revenue by 2025, including acquisitions, organic growth and new products.

The combined firm includes creative shops 72andSunny, Anomaly, Doner and Forsman & Bodenfors, digital transformation firms Code and Theory, YML and Instrument, media agencies Assembly, ForwardPMX and GALE, public relations firms Allison+Partners, SKDK and Hunter, and market research firms the Harris Poll and NRG.

The combined company is expected to generate between $2.135 billion and $2.180 billion in total revenue in 2021, making it a top-10 global marketing services company.

Clients include household names, such as P&G, Nike, and Google.

Stagwell’s new visual identity — created by Doner — symbolizes the combination of MDC and the Stagwell Marketing Group, and the combination of creativity and connected experiences. Code and Theory designed Stagwell’s new website.   

The company is releasing second-quarter financial results August 4.