Tombras expands globally with acquisition of Argentine agency

Tombras is expanding beyond the U.S. for the first time with the acquisition of Buenos Aires, Argentina-based creative agency Niña. The independent agency is acquiring all of Niña, though specific terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 2012, Niña has 55 employees and works with clients including Disney, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Under Armour, Bacardi and commercial bank Banco Patagonia. The Argentine shop will now operate as TombrasNiña and continue to be led by Niña’s partners, Latin American Chief Creative Officers Gonzalo Vecino and Pablo Alvarez Travieso, along with Pablo Panigatti, head of business development for Latin America. Luciano Landajo will remain Latin America CEO. Also read: How to sell your agency Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs With this new addition, Tombras will have offices in Knoxville, Tennessee (where it’s headquartered), New York, Atlanta, Charlotte, North Carolina, Washington, D.C. and Buenos Aires. “The list of global independent agencies is small, and I think that we have something very special here,” said Jeff Benjamin, Tombras’ chief creative officer. Tombras President Dooley Tombras said the shop had discussed expanding globally for a few years. Juan Tubert, who joined Tombras from R/GA two years ago as chief technology officer, first suggested an expansion to South America. Tubert, who is from Argentina, also helped open R/GA’s office in Argentina. Last year, Tombras’ Executive Creative Director Avinash Baliga, who once worked at Mother Buenos Aires, broached the idea of opening an Argentine office. Tombras already had a connection to Niña due to a previous working relationship between Vecino and Benjamin. Benjamin was JWT’s North America chief creative officer while Vecino was an executive creative director at JWT’s Argentine office more than 10 years ago. Dooley Tombras said he was impressed by the fact that Disney was Niña’s inaugural client and remains on its roster. The other aspect that stood out was the agency’s award-winning work, including most recently two silver Clios in 2024, and the ability to add scale to existing clients. Vecino said the agency hadn’t been looking to be acquired, but felt it was the right move to scale after the partners met with the Tombras team while in New York for the Clio Awards in May. Benjamin will lead creative globally. “We’ll be able to work on stuff that they’re doing, but I plan on bringing them into things that I’m working on over here,” Benjamin said. “That’s the point of being a global independent agency.” Ad Age Agency Report 2024 Revenue and analysis for agency companies Click here Dooley Tombras said he expects to have 100 employees in Argentina within two years. “We work with a lot of global brands right now, where we may be the U.S. agency of record, and we can now raise our hand and say we’re open for business in South and Central America and vice versa,” he said. Tombras has recently picked up business with Spirit Airlines and Kellanova, which yesterday agreed to be sold to Mars. Dooley Tombras said revenue is up for the agency this year, and expects year-end revenue to come in “significantly” higher given new business wins. He also did not rule out further international expansion in the future. “We’re a growth culture, and growth is good for our people because we get bigger creative opportunities,” said Dooley Tombras. “We’re in a very unique position right now where we do not need to chase scale for scale's sake, and we only want to get bigger if we can get better at the same time.”

Tombras expands globally with acquisition of Argentine agency

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