Multicultural ad agency Burrell Communications Group has acquired Atlanta-based Fitzco for an undisclosed sum.  

Burrell said the purchase was the first step in creating the first Black-owned agency network, BCG Worldwide.  

Fitzco was founded in 1983 by Dave Fitzgerald who sold the agency to Interpublic Group in 1998. In 2020 Fitzgerald came out of retirement and bought the agency back from IPG. He retired again in 2023, and was succeeded by agency veteran Evan Levy.  

With the acquisition, Burrell said Fitzgerald would unretire again to serve as interim CEO. Levy noted on LinkedIn today that he was leaving the agency. “The depth of my appreciation is endless,” Levy said of his time at the agency. But, he added, “This is little more than career halftime. A moment to dash into the locker room, huff some oxygen, scribble on a whiteboard, belt out some obscenities to get psyched up, and charge back out there to kill it in the second half.”  

“The purchase of Fitzco marks a new chapter for Burrell Communications Group,” stated Tara DeVeaux, CEO BCG Worldwide. “It not only gives us heightened visibility and much-needed presence in the south, but also deepens our expertise and supercharges our agency’s offerings.”  

The Fitzco staff is being retained and Burrell and Fitzco will continue to operate as separate entities while working together where it makes sense for clients, the agency said.   

Burrell was acquired in 2023 by an equity consortium led by FVLCRUM Funds, a minority-owned private equity firm based in Bethesda, Maryland, and Los Angeles corporate attorney Channing Johnson.  

“I’m delighted to leave my legacy in the hands of the talented Fitzco and Burrell Communications leadership team,” stated Fitzgerald. “And, I look forward to witnessing how the synergies between the two companies reveal themselves in explosive growth.” 

Pictured above are DeVeaux (second from right) and the Fitzco management team including (from left) Ryan Boblett, Head of Creative; Keri Palmer, CFO; MJ Gort, Head of Analytics and Claire Russell, Head of Media.