Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos,
which includes a new media component, agreed to be acquired
by Interpublic Group of Cos.
Hill, Holliday is a midsized agency that specializes in clients in fields like
financial services, health care, and technology.
Hill, Holliday has more than 600 employees at offices in Boston; Fort
Lauderdale, FL; Framingham, MA, and New York, according to the New York Times.
Billings are estimated at $600 million, for advertisers like BankBoston
Corp., Bay Networks Inc., the Fidelity Investments unit of FMR Corp.,
Gillette Co., John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co., and Harvard Pilgrim
Health Care.
Interpublic is acquiring Hill, Holliday in a pooling-of-interests stock
transaction, terms of which were not disclosed. Jack Connors Jr., who was one
of four founders of the agency in 1968 and is chairman and chief executive,
was quoted as saying that a group of 12 executives, whom he identified as “the
next generation” of Hill, Holliday’s leadership, would share in the proceeds
of the sale.
Connors, 55, plans to remain at the helm of the agency for a minimum of five
years. Hill, Holliday will operate as an autonomous unit of Interpublic,
reporting to Philip Geier Jr., that company’s chairman and chief executive,
the Times said.