Fors Marsh Acquires Brunet-Garcia -- Breaking Down Industry's Latest Acquisition

Fors Marsh announced its acquisition of longtime partner Brunet-Garcia yesterday, continuing the M&A trend that’s been reshaping the marketing communications industry in recent years. What drove the deal and what does it mean for other firms in the space?

Let’s break it down…

We’ll start with contract vehicles. You’ve heard us say it before, and we’ll say it again: contract vehicles must be a priority for firms in this space, as the federal government will continue to streamline acquisition and leverage vehicles and multi-award BPAs/IDIQs for its contracting.

Fors Marsh has excelled at obtaining and maximizing contract vehicles, and that strategy has paid dividends. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Fors Marsh's largest client, procures the vast majority of its public health communications contracts through PICS II, the CDC Health Marketing BPA, and the CMS NEC IDIQ. 

Fors Marsh was already the most successful contractor (by awarded dollars) on PICS II. Now, the acquisition of Brunet-Garcia gives them access to the highly coveted CDC Health Marketing BPA for the remaining couple of years left on the vehicle—and presumably makes them a favorite to secure a highly coveted spot when the BPA recompetes. As a former 8(a) company that recently graduated from the program, and one of the preferred 8(a) firms in public health communications, Brunet-Garcia also possesses strong past performance and relationships across the CDC and HHS. 

Outside of HHS, Fors Marsh is deepening its past performance, creative capabilities, and impressive track record of success marketing to multicultural audiences. 

While the terms of the deal were undisclosed, the strategy behind it makes a lot of sense for both firms and should lead to even more growth in the coming years. And if you’re considering M&A as an avenue for your own growth, get in touch. We’re currently advising a handful of companies and actively seeking:

  • A potential buyer for a 20-person public health communications firm with numerous state-level contracts

  • A web development company that is interested in selling

Whether or not that’s you, we’re always excited to talk about M&A, so don’t hesitate to reach out!

Mike KapetanovicProfessional Services, Marketing Communications