Kantar buys Mavens of London

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but the addition of the Mavens team, artificial intelligence and analytics capabilities, will strengthen Kantar’s Analytics Practice.

Mavens of London was founded in 2009 and employs around 100 staff in offices in London and New York. The agency’s clients include Dove and Philips.

The acquisition is the first Kantar has made since WPP sold 60% of the company to private equity firm Bain Capital.

In 2019, then-chief executive Eric Salama said Kantar would make more acquisitions following its spin-off from WPP.

Richard Ingleton, global chief executive of Kantar’s Insights division said: “Our Analytics Practice is a key growth driver for Kantar, as clients turn to us to help them unlock deeper insights about consumers and how they think, feel and act to fuel growth for their business. Mavens’ analytics consulting capabilities in particular are unique in their ability to combine data literacy, marketing strategy, commercial expertise, and technical delivery to offer solutions from strategy through to implementation.”

Darren Bhattachary, co-CEO of the company’s Insights division in the UK, added: “The addition of its digital consulting capability and performance content and search analytics offers strengthen our existing analytics portfolio in social and marketing effectiveness.”

Last month, Salama stepped down as chief executive of Kantar ahead of a successor being named, while Adam Crozier, formerly chief executive of ITV, joined as chairman.