MMGY Global bolsters Los Angeles and New York City operations; grows footprint with Chicago, San Francisco and Vancouver expansion
MMGY Global, the world’s leading integrated travel and hospitality marketing firm, announced today that it has acquired Wagstaff Media & Marketing, a leading integrated public relations and marketing agency specializing in the travel, culinary and hospitality lifestyle industries. The firm, which will become known as MMGY Wagstaff, was founded by recognized industry leader Mary Wagstaff more than 20 years ago.
MMGY Global’s ongoing strategy is to grow its global footprint and ability to service existing and prospective clients worldwide. The deal marks MMGY Global’s further geographic expansion in North America, significantly boosting its West Coast presence and senior talent, doubling the size of its public relations practice and enhancing the agency’s expertise with travel tangential categories including lifestyle, wine and spirits, and culinary. With the addition of Wagstaff’s San Francisco and Chicago locations, MMGY Global will now have over 500 employees and operate in 13 markets globally: Austin, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Fort Myers, Kansas City, Miami, London, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Vancouver and Washington, D.C.
“We are excited to welcome Mary and her team to MMGY Global as we continue to build a powerhouse integrated agency. Mary is a known star-maker in our business, and we are strengthened by her wisdom and guidance,” said Clayton Reid, CEO of MMGY Global. “Wagstaff’s long-standing senior management team, expertise and client base in hospitality lifestyle and F&B add a new dimension to our business and support our position on the evolution of travel.”
Mary Wagstaff will remain an integral part of the business as Partner and Managing Director for the MMGY Wagstaff brand. She will work with the MMGY Global senior management team to grow the agency’s capabilities and extend its services across other areas of the company.
“We are thrilled to be joining MMGY Global to help our business progress to the next level,” said Mary Wagstaff, President of Wagstaff Media & Marketing. “We’re bringing a broader set of tools to our talented teams and offering our clients the benefits of a fully integrated marketing firm, including expanded creative and production resources, research and insights, as well as more global services.”
MMGY Wagstaff and MMGY Global’s existing North American PR, social and experiential brand, MMGY NJF, will continue to operate separately. Both will work with MMGY Global’s European PR brand, MMGY Grifco, to connect clients to international markets.
Wagstaff Media & Marketing is the tenth acquisition by MMGY Global since private equity firm Peninsula Capital Partners (www.peninsulafunds.com) made a significant equity investment in the company in February 2016. The investment further strengthens the company’s aggressive acquisition strategy, which includes global expansion and its commitment to integration across all travel marketing channels.
MMGY Global was advised on the transaction by Armanino, LLP on financial matters and by Foley & Lardner, LLP on legal matters. Wagstaff was advised on the transaction by Greenberg Traurig LLP on legal matters and by tax advisors Lederman Zeidler Gray & Co.
About MMGY Global
MMGY Global is the world’s leading integrated marketing firm specializing in the travel, hospitality and entertainment industries. With operations across the world, the award-winning organization maintains a global communications practice in all marketing channels, serving many of the world’s premier travel and tourism brands. As a company dedicated to the travel industry, MMGY Global strives to create a connected, inclusive and peaceful world by promoting travel as a cultural bridge of understanding. For more information, visit mmgyglobal.com.
About Wagstaff Media & Marketing
Since Mary Wagstaff founded the company in 1999, Wagstaff has grown from a humble staff of one to an international full-service agency with more than 65 account executives and offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Vancouver, Canada. Wagstaff is dedicated to supporting clients in all verticals of the hospitality world, including travel, hospitality lifestyle, and culinary products, personalities, events and festivals, hotels, airlines, as well as distinctive wine and spirits brands – creating innovative marketing strategies that build brand awareness, drive business, and secure results that matter. Wagstaff was included in Forbes’ inaugural list of America’s Best PR Firms, and Mary Wagstaff was recently honored by Los Angeles Business Journal’s Women’s Leadership Awards.
Media Contact
Derek Klaus
MMGY Global/MMGY NJF
dklaus@njfpr.com