TMW's main shareholders Chris Warren, the agency's managing director, Paul Tullo, the board creative partner, and Richard Marshall, the business development director, will gain shares in Creston and a seat on the group's operating board as part of the £38m deal.
The partners are on three-year earn-outs but say they intend to stay on after that. "The fact that we've opted to take shares in Creston means we intend to be part of the business for many years to come," said Marshall.
He added they would be "proactively involved with the Creston group and have a fundamental say in its future direction".
Creston has expanded rapidly through acquisitions since it was set up in 2001. It bought ad agency Delaney Lund Knox Warren & Partners and its integrated arm Dialogue DLKW in 2005. The Real Adventure, another Creston agency, focuses on customer insight.
The group is likely to continue adding marketing specialisms to its portfolio - it bought market research agency ICM at the same time as purchasing TMW.
"There is scope for adding media planning and strategy, as well as experiential and search engine marketing," said Marshall. TMW's clients, which include Diageo, Nissan and Unilever, were "very positive" about the deal, he added.
Don Elgie, Creston's chief executive, vowed to let TMW operate autonomously while benefiting from cross-selling opportunities.
See analysis, page 18
THE CRESTON EMPIRE
- The Real Adventure (customer insight)
- EMO (channel marketing)
- Nelson Bostock (PR)
- Delaney Lund Knox Warren & Partners (advertising)
- Red Door (healthcare PR)
- Marketing Sciences (research)
- CML (research)
- ICM (research)
- TMW (DM)
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