Burrell Communications Group acquired by private equity firm

Burrell Communications Group, one of the country’s most renowned Black-owned agencies, is under new ownership. Founded by industry trailblazer Tom Burrell in 1971, the Chicago shop has been acquired by a consortium led by Black-owned private equity firm FVLCRUM Partners and Channing Johnson, a Los Angeles attorney at Loeb & Loeb, through his investment company View Park Capital. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs The exchange includes the sale of the majority stake owned by Burrell Co-CEOs McGhee Osse and Fay Ferguson since 2004 and the 49% owned by Publicis since 1999. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. As part of the move, Tara DeVeaux will have a stake in and become CEO of the agency. DeVeaux was previously chief marketing officer of Los Angeles-based independent Wild Card Creative Group, and managing director of its creative content division, 3AM. Earlier, she held lead roles at agencies such as SpikeDDB and BBDO. One of the main goals for DeVeaux is getting Burrell Communications consideration for work that is more than multicultural. “My goal is that we continue to not just excel in the Black and multicultural assignments and the way we’ve been doing for the last 52 years, but we make a strong case for why we should be considered for general market work as well,” DeVeaux said. “To me, it’s crazy that in every part of modern-day culture, Black people are creative leaders and icons, Black and Brown people are creating the culture in music, fashion, film, TV, and creating a culture that’s incredibly meaningful to billions of people worldwide. And yet when we look at marketing and advertising we are, with few exceptions, put into a box.” Johnson, who organized the acquisition and brought on FVLCRUM as a partner, becomes chairman of Burrell. The process itself took nine months, according to Johnson, who is also the chairman of 1Community, a film and TV production company behind films including “Just Mercy” starring Michael B. Jordan and Jaime Foxx, and “Respect,” starring Jennifer Hudson. Johnson will focus on finding new areas for investment that could grow the agency, which currently has 135 employees. This will include a “substantial investment” in digital, experiential and entertainment, Johnson said. One thing that attracted Johnson to Burrell besides its legacy was the fact that the agency has been able to retain clients such as McDonald’s and Toyota for decades. Some of Burrell’s other clients include Coca-Cola Co., Comcast, Fidelity, Deloitte, FIFCO, Southern Company, and the American Red Cross. “I’m very focused on deals in the Black community, companies in the Black community that have been able to withstand the test of time and that I believe can achieve some greater scale,” Johnson said. “So my objective is to grow the company organically and through acquisitions.” Subscribe to Ad Age Sign up now for the latest industry news and analysis Click here Osse and Ferguson said they had been thinking about succession plans for a while, but had to make sure any new ownership fit the culture and also was minority-owned before they stepped down. While Tom Burrell hasn’t had a stake in the company since 2004, both Osse and Ferguson said they are happy that his name will remain on the agency. “Having jointly led Burrell for nearly two decades,” Ferguson said in a statement, “McGhee and I sought to ensure that the new ownership shared our vision, standard of values and commitment to excellence and innovation in multicultural marketing, and we’re absolutely thrilled about their selection of Tara as CEO.” In August, FVLCRUM raised $302 million in a fund dedicated to investing in diverse companies with potential for growth. The PE firm declined to comment on whether money from this fund was used in the acquisition of Burrell.

Burrell Communications Group acquired by private equity firm

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