Global holding group WPP has purchased creative agency New Commercial Arts for an estimated £40 million, with a view towards integrating it within the Ogilvy network.

The move will mark a second windfall for the agency’s founders James Murphy and David Golding, who had previously developed and sold Adam&Eve to OmnicomDDB for around £50 million in 2012.

New Commercial Arts will now become part of Ogilvy UK but will still remain as a standalone brand. Its sale comes only four years after it was founded by Murphy and Golding, alongside Ian Heartfield and Rob Curran in May 2020.

“Ogilvy is rightly recognised as the world’s pre-eminent creative network, and to be joining with the remit to unlock our collective potential in the UK market is irresistible. For our team and our clients this will be a game-changer in what we can bring to their careers and their brands,” Murphy said.

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“Plugging into Ogilvy and WPP’s network will give us access to data and AI tools at scale through WPP Open and to a broad set of Ogilvy capabilities that were simply out of our reach as an independent – from influencer marketing, PR, CRM, commerce and service design to business transformation and brand innovation through Ogilvy Consulting.”

As part of the acquisition, Murphy will now become CEO of Ogilvy Group UK, replacing the outgoing Fiona Gordon who has been promoted to global CEO of Ogilvy Advertising.

WPP CEO, Mark read added: “NCA is one of the UK’s most exciting new agencies with a great team, an impressive roster of clients and a track record of elevating beloved British brands.

“Its capabilities and client base make NCA highly complementary to Ogilvy; bringing together these two very successful agencies will drive growth both for our clients and our own UK business.”