Havas close to buying Host says Europe source – possibly to merge agency with Euro RSCG

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Freedman-Anthony-thumb-200x257-7059.jpgA CB source in Europe contacted tonight maintains Havas is buying Sydney indie agency Host, possibly merging the agency with Euro RSCG.

When contacted this evening a spokesperson for Euro RSCG Australia denied the agency or parent Havas was involved.

Host was started by CEO Anthony Freedman (pictured) in 2001. Since then it has worked for a number of clients including Vodafone, Air New Zealand, BankWest, The Sun-Herald, BT Financial, Virgin Mobile and Yahoo. 

Freedman did not return a text from CB tonight but said back in march: “This industry is full of speculation about independent agencies being bought. In the last few weeks Host has been linked to Saatchi, Dentsu and now Euro. If we had something to announce be assured we would let you know.”

However, Freedman did not deny that Host had brokered a deal, but not with Havas, when contacted by B&T today. Freedman told B&T: “It’s not something that I can comment on at this stage. I will be in a position to be more expansive relatively quickly. Maybe sometime next week.”