Havas announces acquisition of UK-based global B2B marketing agency Ledger Bennett

• Ledger Bennett is the latest strategic acquisition by Havas to evolve its operating model as clients accelerate their transition to become more customer-centric organisations.
• Ledger Bennett, which works with GE Digital and LinkedIn, eyes global scale that Havas can afford through the acquisition.

Havas announces the acquisition of UK-based award-winning, global B2B marketing agency Ledger Bennett, enhancing its capabilities in the high growth B2B space both in the UK and internationally. Ledger Bennett will now be branded as ‘Ledger Bennett, a Havas Company’ and join the organization under Havas Media Network. Ledger Bennett is the latest strategic acquisition by Havas to evolve its operating model as clients accelerate their transition to become more customer-centric organisations.  

Founded in 1985 by Nicholas Ledger, Ledger Bennett has forged a reputation as a powerhouse in B2B marketing centred around its end-to-end ‘Forever Customer’ proposition, which creates life-time value and a seamless brand experience in the B2B marketing journey, aligning with Havas’ customer-centric evolution strategy. Ledger Bennett now operates in EMEA, APAC and North America, servicing clients across industrial, tech and services within B2B, including GE Digital and LinkedIn.

Since Andrea Glenn took the role of CEO in 2022, Ledger Bennett has grown its revenue by 50% following wins such as Expleo, Aptean and Indeed. Under her stewardship, B2B Marketing Awards recognised Ledger Bennett as the fifth fastest growing B2B agency in the US in 2023. Its progressive “Fluid Talent” model seamlessly integrates marketing talent into a client’s organisation providing the skills and scale clients need as demands ebb and flow. Its proposition has led to industry-wide recognition for the likes of its GE Digital ‘Mastering the Balance’ campaign work, among others.

The acquisition is Havas’ latest step to diversify its service offering so that it can better support its clients’ growing digital and data requirements as they transition to be more customer-led. Over the last two years, Havas has acquired Search Laboratory, additive+ and Expert Edge (now Havas Market UK) to bolster capabilities in performance marketing, dynamic creative and content services and commerce. Havas also brought global creative cultural partnerships and activations agency Havas Play to the UK in 2023 and most recently Havas Media Network’s audience and data platform, Converged, as agencies rush to put in place cookieless cross-platform planning-to-activation solutions.

Ledger Bennett adds further scale and depth to Havas’s B2B capabilities to service the exponential and continuous growth in B2B marketing requirements and budgets, with two thirds (66%) of B2B marketers expecting their budget to increase or stay the same over next 12 months, according to LinkedIn. Ledger Bennett’s fully integrated offering also complements the B2B offerings from fellow Havas Village London agencies H/Advisors Maitland and Gate One, in addition to those within Havas Media Network. Ledger Bennett will also look to unlock the latent potential of existing Havas Village capabilities for B2B purposes, such as CX and ecommerce.

In 2022, Havas Media Network UK launched a dedicated B2B division, Havas Business, to formally kick start its B2B journey and currently works with the likes of 3M, JDE Professional and Maersk for which Havas Business won the Grand Prix at WARC B2B effectiveness in two consecutive years. Havas Business will merge under Ledger Bennett, forming a 100+-person strong B2B specialism within Havas Media Network.

Ledger Bennett’s London-based staff will move to Havas Village London from March 2024 where the agency will be headed by CEO Andrea Glenn who’ll report into Patrick Affleck, CEO, Havas Media Network UK & Ireland.

Yannick Bolloré

Chairman and Global CEO, Havas

B2B marketing is ripe for disruption and Ledger Bennett are genuine disruptors within this space. Its ‘Forever Customer’ proposition, which focuses on creating lifetime value is both unique and differentiating and will bring further sophistication to our existing B2B offering. Andrea has done an incredible job at turning Ledger Bennett into a fast-growing business with immediate expansion potential and a compelling highly scalable solution. Importantly, Ledger Bennett is trusted by some of the world’s most ambitious, progressive and sophisticated global businesses, and I’m excited about what we can further build and achieve together.

Patrick Affleck

CEO, Havas Media Network UK & Ireland

When we started this process, we wanted to disrupt B2B marketing. Our conversations with Havas have been energising and there’s a palpable ambitious appetite to scale B2B within Havas Media Network and throughout Havas. That’s convinced us Havas would be a great place to accelerate our growth with a combined offering of progressive B2B capabilities from Ledger Bennett and B2C firepower from Havas.

Andrea Glenn

CEO, Ledger Bennett, a Havas company

Founded in 1835 in Paris, Havas is one of the world’s largest global communications networks, with more than 23,000 people in over 100 countries sharing one single mission: to make a meaningful difference to brands, businesses, and people. Havas has developed a fully integrated model through its 70+ Havas Villages around the world, covering all communication activities. The teams of the three business units, Havas Creative Network, Havas Media Network and Havas Health & You, work together with agility and in perfect synergy to offer tailor-made, innovative solutions to clients that support them in their positive transformation. Havas is committed to building a diverse culture where everybody feels they belong and can be themselves and thrive. Havas integrated into Vivendi, a global leader in media, entertainment, and communications, in December 2017. Further information about Havas is available at www.havas.com.

Founded in 1985; Ledger Bennett has been at the forefront of B2B transformation for almost four decades. Most recently leading the way as the world’s first B2B agency aimed at generating Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) by bringing together marketing, sales, customer and product teams to form a single Digital Revenue Team, offering clients frictionless, transparent, recurring revenue growth. With an awardwinning culture and commitment to allowing every individual to come to work and be their authentic selves, Ledger Bennett is led by a diverse team that is proud to work with some of the most progressive clients in B2B.