Havas SA is a French multinational advertising and public relations company, headquartered in Paris, France. It operates in more than 100 countries and is one of the largest advertising and communications groups in the world.
Havas consists of three main operational divisions. The group offers digital, advertising, direct marketing, media planning and buying, corporate communications, sales promotion, design, human resources, sports marketing, multimedia interactive communications, public relations, and innovation consulting.
History
The original Havas was the world's first news agency, created in 1835. The Agence France-Presse news agency comes from it. Havas was acquired by Vivendi in 1998, and renamed Vivendi Universal Publishing. VUP in turn merged with Lagardere to become Editis in 2004.
The company which today bears the name Havas is itself a former subsidiary of the company which acquired the rights to the name in 2002. It is a holding company headquartered in Puteaux, Paris.
French corporate raider Vincent Bolloré, through his holding company the Bolloré Group, is the main shareholder, controlling 32.84% of the share capital as of 7 May 2012. Bolloré himself took over the chairmanship of the Havas board (Président du conseil d'administration). In November 2017, Havas acquired Malaysia-based agency Immerse and rebranded to Havas Immerse.
In April 2022, Havas acquired the UK-based digital agency and Google partner, Search Laboratory.
Timeline
Havas is the family name of Charles-Louis Havas. He created the first French press agency in 1835.
Havas Conseil – Havas Advertising
By 1968, Havas had become a diversified group which had, inter alia, media interests. These interests were incorporated into a société anonyme, Havas Conseil S.A., which expanded its business rapidly.
In 1975, Havas Conseil became Eurocom, holding company of a Group of subsidiaries specializing in various communications activities.
Since the 1970s, the Group grew significantly in France and internationally, both in the communications and media buying sectors, by broadening the scope of services that it offers and expanding into new communications techniques and technologies.
Havas was first listed on the Paris Bourse (now the Euronext Paris) in 1982. The principal milestones in the Group's strategic development are the following:
In 1991, Eurocom acquired the French advertising group RSCG, leading to the creation of the Euro RSCG Worldwide advertising network. RSCG had been the lead advertising agency for Peugeot. In 1996, Eurocom changed its name to Havas Advertising and created four operating divisions, Euro RSCG, Campus, Diversified Agencies, and Médiapolis. American Bob Schmetterer is named chairman and CEO of the largest division Euro RSCG, whose headquarters are moved to New York in 1997.
In 1998, Compagnie Générale des Eaux, led by Jean-Marie Messier, changed its name to Vivendi and acquired control of Havas (and its subsidiary Havas Advertising); it acquired a third of Havas in February 1997, and the remainder in March 1998 in a deal that valued the company at €6 billion (£4.05 billion). Vivendi later considered its advertising and communications interests no longer strategic.
Between 1998 and 2001, late in the wave of consolidation within the advertising/communications sector, Havas Advertising adopted an aggressive acquisition strategy in order not to become a takeover target following its independence from Havas. In order to become a bigger and more global player, it acquired MPG and Snyder, as well as around one hundred specialized agencies in America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. This strategy was criticised by Maurice Levy as "reckless."
"Media Planning Group" was created in 1999 through the combination of Media Planning, S.A., a Spanish media planning and buying company controlled by Léopoldo Rodés Castañes and his family, with Médiapolis, the existing Havas media planning business. Havas initially acquired 45% of MPG, which was increased to 100% in May 2001.
Snyder Communications Inc. On 4 April 2000, at the height of the M&A frenzy, Havas Advertising agreed to acquire Snyder Communications, Inc. (SNC) in an all-share transaction, where SNC was valued at US$2.1 billion.