WPP takes total ownership of T&Pm

WPP has bought out the rest of T&Pm after acquiring its minority shareholdings.

The purchase brings the agency – formed after The & Partnership and MSix & Partners merged this March – fully into the network, although it will continue to operate as a standalone shop.

WPP first bought a 49.9% stake in The & Partnership in 2007. The network moved to a majority holding in 2019 after buying more shares, which, at the time, valued the agency at about £160 million, ($204 million) roughly two-and-half-times the £60m ($76.5 million) valuation in 2007.

Johnny Hornby, founder and chief executive of T&Pm, said: “This is a very exciting next phase for us. Our belief in the superior agility of integrated teams has fuelled our global success. Now, AI is transforming the speed at which we can partner with clients to create growth, and WPP’s early investment in Open gives us a big advantage.” 

AI is placed at the heart of the move, with T&P integrating WPP’s AI-powered marketing operating system, WPP Open, at the core of its marketing models. The agency had already been using the systems.

Mark Read, chief executive of WPP, said: “Two years ago, I showed Johnny the early iterations of WPP Open, our AI-powered operating system for marketing. He immediately saw its transformational potential and has since become one of its most compelling advocates. T&Pm is a great example of how we are putting AI at the heart of the groundbreaking work we do for our clients.”

T&Pm has 1800 staff across 42 global locations. Its clients include Amazon, Argos, British Gas, EA, Mars, NatWest, News UK and Toyota, many of which are already served in collaboration with other WPP agencies.