Laura Swinton: Has Sir Martin Sorrell opened the floodgates on a production spending spree?

What does news of an acquisition battle for Media Monks between S4C and WPP mean for agile, hybrid production companies, asks Laura Swinton… and who might be next?

If there’s one thing that Sir Martin Sorrell can be relied upon for, it’s to wrong foot naysayers and speculators. If his Cannes chat – and praise for Dentsu Aegis’s acquisition of Merkle in particular – had us thinking that his sights were set on big data firms, then rumours of his new holding company S4C capital’s first acquisition are likely to cause a few ripples of excitement. Not least among hybrid production company owners.

Media Monks, it seems, according to reports in The Drum and Sky News, have found themselves in the middle of a spat between exes as both S4C and Sir Martin’s old home, WPP, are said to be circling the Dutch-headquartered digital creative production company. The international studio, with capabilities spanning creative, digital production and development, and experiential as well as traditional film making certainly fits the vision outlined by Sorrell at Cannes for an integrated and nimble kind of company fit for purpose in the 21st century. But would a holding company acquisition remove all that makes a business like Media Monks able to cut to the chase with clients and move quickly? Continue reading on Little Black Book