• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, October 13, 2022

Travel and hospitality marketing agency MMGY has acquired Wagstaff Media & Marketing, also a travel specialist with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Vancouver, Canada.  

Wagstaff, founded by Mary Wagstaff more than 20 years ago, will be rebranded as MMGY Wagstaff.  Wagstaff will remain with the agency serving as partner and managing director for the MMGY Wagstaff brand. She will work with the MMGY Global senior management team to grow the agency’s capabilities and extend its services across other areas of the company. 

MMGY said the deal significantly boosts its West Coast presence and doubles the size of its PR practice while adding to its expertise in travel-related categories such as lifestyle, wine and spirits, and culinary. 

With the acquisition, the agency will have over 500 employees and operate in 13 markets globally:  Austin, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Fort Myers, Kansas City, Miami, London, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Vancouver and Washington, D.C. 

Wagstaff is the tenth acquisition by MMGY Global since private equity firm Peninsula Capital Partners bought a significant (but undisclosed) stake in the agency in 2016.