Havas Group has today announced its acquisition of the UK digital experience agency Inviqa in a substantial, “eight-figure deal”.
The company, which comprises more than 150 employees across eight offices, will be integrated into Havas Creative’s dedicated customer experience network, Havas CX, to significantly expand its specialism, scale, and capabilities in experience design, software engineering, technology consulting, and ecommerce.
As part of Havas CX, Inviqa will merge with Havas’ existing UK-based digital experience agency, ekino London. The combined company, which will be headquartered out of Havas’ UK Village in London’s King’s Cross, will retain the Inviqa brand and be led by Inviqa founder and chief exec Yair Spitzer. ekino will continue to operate as a standalone brand within Havas CX in non-UK markets including France, New York and Singapore.
Yannick Bolloré, Chairman and CEO of Havas Group, says: “Over a number of years, our acquisition strategy has focussed on cutting-edge, best-in-class agencies within the digital customer experience space – and Inviqa certainly fits that bill.”
“As the world begins to transition out of the pandemic, customer experience continues to represent one of our biggest growth opportunities – as demonstrated by the success of the Havas CX network, which has grown by two-thirds since its launch in 2020. Inviqa will help us unlock even more cross-discipline opportunities, and I’m excited to welcome Yair and the team to the Havas family.”
The multi-award-wining agency creates digital products and platforms that help organisations meet their customer needs and accelerate their business growth. Inviqa’s UK clients include Tesco, Reiss, Phoenix Healthcare, and Arsenal FC – and its German portfolio includes the likes of METRO, Teufel, and toom Baumarkt.
Chris Hirst, Global chief, Havas Creative, says: “The opportunity to substantially scale our experience design, technology and ecommerce capabilities in one of our key CX hubs was too good to turn down. With the addition of Inviqa, we now boast three market-leading CX agencies, spanning consultancy and brand strategy, experience design and customer engagement, that can go toe-to-toe with anyone.”
Yair Spitzer, Co-founder and chief exec of Inviqa, said he was “truly delighted” to join the Havas family.
Sourced from City A.M.
Written by Leah Montebello