Havas has acquired a 51% stake in Uncommon Creative Studio, with the global communications group describing the move as a signal of its “continued commitment to creativity”.

Though exact terms of the agreement have not been disclosed, Havas said the landmark deal could value the future potential of Uncommon at between £80m to £120m “considering [its] projected growth plans”.

Yannick Bolloré, chairman and global chief executive officer of Havas, and chairman of parent company Vivendi, said: “Uncommon will bring new energy, creativity and audiences into Havas’ already leading-edge creative network, igniting, inspiring and supporting every aspect of creativity.”

Since being founded in 2017, Uncommon has become the fastest growing start-up in advertising history and remains the only majority female-founded company of its scale in the industry.

Its three co-founders, Natalie Graeme, Lucy Jameson and Nils Leonard, will now hold a 49% material stake in the business. Uncommon will also retain its brand, vision and freedom to make its own decisions across its client partners, internal team and creative output.

Leonard said: “We created Uncommon to be on the receiving end of the most important and influential briefs of our time, this partnership brings that conviction closer to reality.”
He continued: “This deal is different: it’s based on a freedom to make decisions, a power to break down barriers and the removal of dependency to make good things happen. We can create the industry we wish we worked in.”

In addition to facilitating the global expansion of Uncommon, the deal is also set to strengthen Havas’ UK presence.

“Bringing Uncommon into Havas Creative Network creates a truly unique and powerful offering in the industry,” said Donna Murphy, global chief executive officer of Havas Creative and Havas Health & You. “This will both accelerate Uncommon’s ambitions and expand the world-class offering of Havas.”

The announcement comes soon after Havas revealed a new brand architecture and visual identity for the first time in 20 years.

The revamp sees Havas bring its branded networks and operating companies, including Havas Health & You, Havas Creative Network and Havas Media Network, under one shared brand identity.

Life sciences consultancy OPEN Health has announced that a new team of experts will lead its HEOR and Market Access Scientific Office.

The team will be led by Dr Elisabeth Fenwick as chief scientific officer, with the support from Professor Ben van Hout as scientific founder. Both Fenwick and van Hout joined OPEN Health through its acquisition of Pharmerit International.

Fenwick is most widely known for working on the cost-effectiveness acceptability curve (CEAC), creating the cost-effectiveness acceptability frontier, and for her work in value of information analyses for research decisions. She has over 20 years of experience in the industry and has published more than 50 publications globally.

Van Hout is most commonly known for being one of the co-founders of the EQ-5D – a standardised measure of health-related quality of life – and as the developer of the CEAC. He was also one of the first researchers to perform a discrete event simulation and is published in the New England Journal of Medicine. He has over 35 years of experience in the industry and was honoured with the ISPOR Avedis Donabedian Outcomes Research Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.

Fenwick said: “The purpose of the Scientific Office is to ensure that science is at the centre of everything we do. Our scientific experts are here to support the HEOR and market access team with their amazing research developing innovative solutions.”

Also commenting on the announcement, Richard Jones, president of OPEN Health Evidence and Access, said: “Over the last few years, the scientific contributions and leadership of these experts have played instrumental roles in shaping our reputation and research efforts, working in partnership with our clients to improve health outcomes and patient well-being.

“This team will ensure our scientific expertise, thought leadership and innovation stay front and centre of our HEOR and market access offering.”

The Scientific Office is made up of experts who bring unique skill sets from across OPEN Health’s HEOR and market access service areas, the agency said.