Rosetta, an independent digital marketing agency, has acquired healthcare marketing agency Wishbone for an undisclosed sum.
Wishbone will retain its name and management team, and will be integrated into Rosetta’s overall healthcare business as a separate professionally focused group. It will continue to operate from its New York offices.
Rosetta, headquartered in Princeton, NJ, is a $131 million digital agency with a client roster spanning several markets, including healthcare, consumer products, insurance, banking and retail. The healthcare business, which is focused on the consumer side, grew by 33% to $46 million in 2009. Clients include Allergan, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Shire and Takeda.
Wishbone’s 2009 revenues were up 20% to $15 million. Current clients include Baxter, Dey, Genzyme, Novartis, Otsuka and Pfizer.
The deal, effective immediately, integrates the two agencies into a $61 million independent healthcare business.
Both agency chiefs view the deal as a strong strategic match.
“Rosetta and Wishbone bring highly complementary strengths to the table that will benefit our clients immediately,” said Wishbone founder and CEO Steven Michaelson. “[This] will result in a new kind of agency that’s even better equipped to help clients prevail in the challenging times ahead.”
“Major changes in the healthcare industry are affecting sales and marketing,” added Kurt Holstein, Rosetta’s cofounder and president, citing a decreasing reliance on face-to-face detailing and increase in digital communications with healthcare professionals. “The addition of Wishbone will allow us to deliver the services our clients need in both the current and future healthcare marketing environment.”
Click here for the original version of this story in MM&M.
