Dept Agency has been acquired by global investors The Carlyle Group.
The Carlyle Group has taken a majority stake in the international agency, which in turn will acquire Swiss digital agency Hinderling Volkart.
Dept is a collection of digital agencies based in London, Manchester, Amsterdam, Berlin, New York, Copenhagen, Argentina and other countries. It employs more than 1,500 people including 160 in the UK.
Last year Dept acquired e3Creative, the Manchester agency formerly co-owned by Gary Neville.
Michael Wand, MD of the Carlyle Europe Technology Partners advisory team, said: “We are delighted to have completed this investment into a next generation digital agency combining technology, creativity, data, and marketing services.
“With digital transformation being an issue of key strategic importance for all businesses, we believe Dept is well-positioned to consolidate their position as an award-winning agency and drive greater value for their clients.
“We look forward to working with the excellent ‘Depster’ team to achieve this.”
Dimi Albers, CEO of Dept, said: “Carlyle’s investment in Dept is a testament to our track record and potential as an agency. Our acquisition of Hinderling Volkart is a great next chapter.
“It shows that with the help of Carlyle, we are accelerating our journey towards becoming the best agency in the world. By uniting creativity, technology and data, we know that we are building the agency model of the future and we can’t wait to put this into practice.”