MSQ Acquires 350-Strong German Agency UDG to Boost European Expansion

MSQ, the next generation independent creative, technology and media company, has acquired Germany's leading customer experience digital agency UDG (United Digital Group). 

The acquisition of the 350-strong UDG team is a transformational move that will see MSQ create a pan-European digital customer experience and tech powerhouse which it intends to roll out across Europe and then into North America. The addition of UDG grows MSQ’s global colleague count to 1,850 working across 22 global offices with revenues of £200m.

UDG is a €40m revenue best-in-class customer experience leader, bringing together customer-centric design and creativity with deep expertise in engineering and technical delivery for long standing global brands including Porsche, Fendt, Bosch and Vaillant. With a head office in Hamburg, its team works  across Germany and Spain and will continue to be led by co-managing partners Mathias Reinhardt and Florian Frey.  

The acquisition of UDG forms part of MSQ’s ambitious organic and acquisition growth strategy, backed by investment from leading private equity groups One Equity Partners and LDC, to create multi-disciplinary hubs of scale in Europe, the US and Asia.  In these hubs entrepreneurial agencies can thrive, collaborate and provide joined-up thinking to their clients, fusing together data, technology and creativity to create brand momentum. Last month MSQ acquired New York based creative agency SPCSHP.

MSQ’s depth and breadth of capabilities - bringing additional skills across data, research and insights, brand strategy, B2B marketing and performance media - together with its global footprint and its collaborative culture, attracted UDG to join as it looked for its own growth platform. The move will allow UDG to grow its presence into more markets where its clients operate while presenting opportunities for MSQ’s agencies to expand into Europe. 

Peter Reid, global CEO of MSQ, said, “The acquisition of UDG is a bold and significant move for us as we build our customer experience and tech capabilities across digital experience, digital product, digital transformation and digital commerce to deliver for international and global organisations. 

“The creation of an international digital customer experience and tech powerhouse, initially in Europe and then rolled out into North America, creates rich opportunities for cross-pollination across our agencies, building momentum, strength and depth in what we can deliver for clients.”  

Co-managing partners Mathias Reinhardt and Florian Frey, said, “MSQ’s capabilities, investment and entrepreneurial ethos make it the ideal platform for UDG to truly scale the work we do for our German-based clients on an international scale. 

“We admire MSQ’s operating model and its people and look forward to making UDG the best it can be, working collaboratively with our new MSQ colleagues to bring new opportunities, experiences and skills to the benefit of our agency, our team and our clients.” 

MSQ’s executive director  Ben Rudman will work closely with Mathias, Florian and the broader UDG and MSQ teams. He added, “UDG has built an enviable agency delivering for leading global brands.  Their enviable customer experience and engineering capabilities build on and complement those within MSQ and I look forward to welcoming Mathias, Florian and the UDG team to the MSQ family as we work to deliver our collective vision.” 

Founded in 2011, UDG has been part PIA Group, owned by private equity firm Equistone, since 2019.  In addition to the automotive and manufacturing sectors, UDG works across FIS/banking, public and pharma and healthcare, with key clients including State of Rhineland-Palatinate and Deutsche Telekom. 

Its relationship with Porsche spans over 20 years, delivering leading transformational digital customer experience services tailored across global markets, harnessing technology platforms such as Contentful, Sitecore, Crownpeak, Google, Microsoft and Storyblok.