DGAP-News: Willkie Farr&Gallagher LLP: Willkie Advises Cognetas on the sale of Commarco Group to WPP
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Willkie Farr&Gallagher LLP: Willkie Advises Cognetas on the sale of
Commarco Group to WPP
19.04.2011 / 11:26
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Cognetas LLP ('Cognetas'), an independent mid-market European private
equity firm, announced today that it has agreed to sell Commarco GmbH
('Commarco'), a leading independent marketing services group in Germany, to
the marketing and communications services group WPP plc ('WPP'). The terms
of the transaction were not disclosed.
In 2003, Cognetas and the management set up Scholz&Friends Holding, since
2008 Commarco, to acquire Scholz&Friends AG from Cordiant plc. Under
Cognetas' ownership, revenues almost doubled from EUR69 million in 2003 to
EUR132.9 million in 2010. Commarco has an excellent client base that
consists of German blue chip clients such as Tchibo, Opel, Siemens,
Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank as well as international blue
chips, including American Express, Credit Suisse, Unilever and Vodafone.
Christian Tiedemann, Co-CEO of Commarco, said: 'Under Cognetas' ownership
we have doubled the size of the business, developed a top creative
marketing services network and have successfully managed our agency
portfolio through a period of major change in the industry with the
emergence of digital marketing.'
Frank-Michael Schmidt, Co-CEO of Commarco, added: 'The combination with
WPP, the worldwide number one network, offers a whole new universe of
international opportunities for both our clients and employees. In
addition, WPP brings top-class expertise in specialist disciplines to
Commarco's German business activities. The step into the WPP world
underlines Commarco's claim of being a first choice for blue chip clients
in the German-speaking region.'
Cognetas appointed two Operating Partners with extensive industry
experience to support the development of Commarco. John Spearman, former
CEO and Chairman of Collett Dickinson Pearce, acted as Chairman and Chris
Jones, former CEO and Chairman of J Walter Thompson, also served on the
board.
Nigel McConnell, Managing Partner at Cognetas, said: 'Commarco has
developed into a leading marketing services group focussed on
German-speaking Europe under the highly successful leadership of Christian
Tiedemann and Frank-Michael Schmidt. We are confident Commarco will
flourish under WPP's ownership.'
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close
in the second half of 2011.
Cognetas is being advised by Rothschild and Willkie Farr&Gallagher in
connection with this transaction.
The Willkie team was led by Mario Schmidt (Corporate/Private Equity) and
Dr. Stefan Joergens (Corporate/Private Equity) and included partners Dr.
Patrick Meiisel (Tax), Dr. Bettina Bokeloh (Tax), Rolf Hünermann
(Antitrust), Dr. Christian Rolf (HR), Jan Wilms (Finance) and associates
Ingo Bednarz (Corporate/Private Equity), Tobias Daubert (Finance), Tobias
Dietrich (Antitrust), Dr. Markus Käpplinger (Corporate/Private Equity),
Marco Müller (Corporate/Private Equity), Jochen Riechwald (HR), Dr.
Stephanie Schmidt-Ehemann (Corporate/Private Equity), Sabine Weber (Tax),
Dr. Matthias Werner (Corporate/Private Equity).
Willkie Farr&Gallagher LLP is an international law firm of over 630
attorneys with offices in New York, Washington, Paris, London, Milan, Rome,
Frankfurt and Brussels. The firm is headquartered in New York City at 787
Seventh Avenue, Tel.: 001 212 728 8000.
Frankfurt, April 19, 2011
End of financial news
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120633 19.04.2011
Datum: 19.04.2011 - 11:26 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 33827
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