LONDON (Brand Republic) - Euro RSCG Worldwide has acquired a majority stake in the San Francisco-based advertising agency Black Rocket, which first launched Yahoo!, for an undisclosed sum.
Black Rocket has a client roster that also includes Conde Nast, and MTV International, and has billings of more than $100m (£69.4m). The agency will be renamed Black Rocket Euro RSCG and will join the Havas Advertising-owned Euro RSCG network.
Famous for its 鈥渄o you Yahoo!?鈥 campaign launched in 1996, Black Rocket was founded in the same year by John Yost, Bob Kerstetter and Steve Stone. Other clients include Musco Olives, The Body Shop and University of California at Berkeley, home of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence programme Seti.
The acquisition boosts Euro RSCG鈥檚 presence in North America. The network already has more than 15 agencies in the US, including Euro RSCG Messner Vetere Berger McNamee Schmetterer, and is the fifth-largest agency network in the world.
Bob Schmetterer, chairman and CEO of Euro RSCG Worldwide, said, 鈥淓uro RSCG has a long history of acquiring great agencies with strong management teams and letting them continue to run their show. Building on what they鈥檝e accomplished, but giving them a global network and strong partner companies in databased marketing services, media, and interactive to expand and fulfil their vision. That鈥檚 exactly what we plan to do with Black Rocket.鈥