Cincinnati media independent Empower has sold controlling interest to Ashlee Clarke, CEO of New York-based creative and media agency NitroC, who will also become CEO of Empower.

NitroC Chief Creative Officer Chris Clarke, who was co-founder of SapientNitro before that agency’s 2015 sale to Publicis Groupe, will also become executive chairman of Empower, whose CEO Jim Price will remain for one year as non-executive chairman, the companies announced in a statement. Price will not retain an ownership stake, a spokeswoman said. He has been CEO of the agency since 2009; the agency was founded in 1985 by his mother, former Procter & Gamble Co. media executive Mary Beth Price.

Clarke’s majority ownership will “solidify Empower’s standing as the largest female-owned media agency in America,” the agency's statement said.

Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but the spokeswoman said the agencies would "retain their own identities." The agencies will have combined media billings of $800 million, she said.

Empower’s statement said the addition of the Clarkes and the NitroC team will mean Empower adds New York, Palm Beach and Houston offices plus additional creative capabilities to its existing offices in Cincinnati, Chicago and Atlanta.

Empower last week laid off about 15% of its staff, citing 2023 projections that didn’t support staffing decisions made during the prior two years of rapid growth, which saw the agency double in size. But the spokeswoman said the layoff decision and sale were not related.

Key clients for Empower include Bush Brothers, Zaxby’s, Brooks Running, Wendy’s, Tempur Sealy, Newell Brands, Fifth Third Bank, Gorilla Glue, O’Keeffe’s, GNC, Vtech, Famous Footwear, O-Cedar, Jack Link’s, Ashley, RoC Skincare, Rust-Oleum and E.W. Scripps.