Havas has acquired a majority stake (51%) in Uncommon Creative Studio in a deal valued at up to £120m. The Uncommon founders will retain a material stake in the business (49%), and will have the freedom to maintain their entrepreneurial zest and grow their brand globally. Havas is promoting the acquisition as a statement about the company’s commitment to creativity.

“This landmark deal reflects the entrepreneurial approach of Havas and bucks the industry standard deals – valuing the future potential of Uncommon at £80-120 million considering their projected growth plans. Uncommon will retain its brand, vision and freedom to make its own decisions across its client partners, internal team and creative output in this exciting next stage of growth for the studio,” Havas said in its statement.

“Uncommon has already attracted some of the world’s biggest and most influential companies, building ‘brands that people in the real world actually wish existed’. The fast-growing agency has twice been named Creative Agency of the Year in the UK, as well as being recently named AdAge’s International Agency of the Year in only 5 years of existence and remains the only majority female-founded company of its scale in the industry.” 

The addition of Uncommon, which will stand alongside Havas UK, will strengthen Havas’ presence in the UK. It will also offer an important opportunity for Havas to expand its creative network in the United States, building and accelerating on Uncommon’s roster of major US clients. Uncommon’s global and diverse mindset, creative reputation and unique studio approach has proven highly attractive in the US.

Uncommon will retain and grow its brand globally, and will be able to collaborate with Havas’ network and entertainment brands such as Canal+, Universal Music Group and Gameloft through Vivendi, to drive creativity across a bigger canvas.

Yannick Bolloré, chairman and global chief executive officer, Havas and chairman, Vivendi, stated, “Uncommon will bring new energy, creativity, and audiences into Havas’ already leading-edge creative network, igniting, inspiring, and supporting every aspect of creativity. Uncommon have created a new space and energy in the industry. They are a once-in-a-decade company and having them join the Havas family is an exciting prospect. We share a vision: with every project, Uncommon and Havas remind the world that creativity is, and always has been, the difference.” 

Donna Murphy, global chief creative officer of Havas Creative and Havas Health & You, added, “Bringing Uncommon into Havas Creative Network creates a truly unique and powerful offering in the industry. This will both accelerate Uncommon’s ambitions and expand the world-class offering of Havas.” 

Lucy Jameson, co-founder of Uncommon, commented, “From the first minute we met Donna and Yannick, we recognised our shared values: the focus on building meaningful brands, the power of creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit to do things differently. We are so excited about the scale of what we can now access and achieve for our clients.” 

Natalie Graeme, co-founder of Uncommon, added, “Havas along with its sister companies in Vivendi offer Uncommon a way to accelerate into the spaces where we have already made headway. Whether that’s into the entertainment world – taking what we started with our Nick Cave documentary – or our design practice, gaming or other geographies. This partnership will open doors globally for Uncommon.”

Nils Leonard, co-founder of Uncommon, stated, “We created Uncommon to be on the receiving end of the most important and influential briefs of our time, this partnership brings that conviction closer to reality. This deal is different: it’s based on a freedom to make decisions, a power to break down barriers and the removal of dependency to make good things happen. We can create the industry we wish we worked in.”

Cover image l-r: Yannick Bolloré, Chairman and Global CEO, Havas, and Chairman, Vivendi; Natalie Graeme, Founder, Uncommon; Lucy Jameson, Founder, Uncommon; Nils Leonard, Founder, Uncommon; Donna Murphy, Global CEO, Havas Creative Network and Havas Health & You.