What Havas does

Havas N.V. is a global communications and media holding company founded in 1835, spun off from Vivendi and independently listed on Euronext Amsterdam (ticker: HAV) in December 2024. Headquartered in Paris with a registered office in Dublin, the group operates the Havas Village model — an integrated platform combining creative, media, digital, corporate PR, transformation consulting, entertainment marketing, and public affairs under a single multi-service client relationship. Core operating units include Havas Creative, Havas Media, Havas Digital, Havas Play (entertainment and experiential), Gate One (business and digital transformation consulting), H/Advisors (strategic advisory and public affairs), CSA/Converged Science & Analytics (data and AI), and the Meaningful Brands research platform, supported by proprietary technology including the €400M Converged.AI operating system and the Mx (Media Experience) media planning system.

The company serves enterprise clients across food & beverage (Domino's, Heineken, Birra Moretti, Bushmills, Hennessy), automotive (Kia, Hyundai), healthcare and pharmaceutical (Indivior, NHS UK, Epilepsy Ireland), technology (Google, Samsung Ads), media and entertainment (Netflix, Unilever), financial services (global investment bank engagements via Gate One), and government/public sector (CCPC, Science Foundation Ireland). Revenue is generated through professional services engagements — creative agency retainers, media planning and buying, digital marketing, transformation consulting, and public affairs advisory — priced via quote-based, scope-driven contracts rather than disclosed unit pricing. FY2025 net revenue was €2,783M with +3.1% organic growth and 12.9% adjusted EBIT margin.

Havas pursues a global go-to-market combining direct enterprise sales, integrated Havas Village delivery, regional strategic alliances (e.g., Moonfolks in Indonesia), and an aggressive bolt-on M&A program — completing 11 majority-stake acquisitions in 2025 across AI/data, experiential, media, sports, entertainment, and public affairs verticals. The group employs 10,000+ people across Western Europe, ANZ, Southeast Asia, and North America, with Vivendi remaining a significant shareholder following the spinoff.

Name

Havas

Legal name

Havas N.V.

Website

https://ie.havas.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1835

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Havas is a global communications holding company operating the Havas Village model, integrating creative, media, digital, consulting, and public affairs services through its Converged.AI platform for enterprise clients across automotive, food & beverage, healthcare, government, and technology sectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Dublin

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices11 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Creative Agency Services: Full-service creative agency services including advertising, brand design, content creation, and communications strategy for enterprise clients globally.
2. Media Services: Media strategy, media buying, programmatic buying, performance marketing, out-of-home advertising, and data consulting services across multiple channels and markets.
3. Business and Digital Transformation Consulting: Gate One provides business and digital transformation consulting including transformation leadership, operating models, culture and change management, mergers and acquisitions support, and customer experience optimization.
4. Digital Services: Digital strategy, user experience design, customer engagement, PPC, SEO, paid social, social media management, programmatic, online video, analytics, and CRM services.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Havas is a global communications and media holding company providing full-service creative advertising, media planning and buying, digital marketing, business transformation consulting, and strategic public affairs services to enterprise clients worldwide. Its Havas Village model integrates these capabilities under one roof, supported by the proprietary Converged.AI operating system (€400M investment) and the Meaningful Brands™ consumer research platform, delivering end-to-end marketing and communications solutions across creative, media, digital, consulting, and experiential disciplines.

Product overview

Havas operates as a full-service global communications and media holding company organized around the Havas Village model—a platform-plus-modules architecture that integrates creative, media, digital, corporate PR, consultancy, and entertainment services. The core offering combines Havas Creative (brand strategy, advertising, content), Havas Media (media planning, buying, and optimization via the proprietary Mx system), Havas Digital (customer engagement, programmatic, analytics), and Gate One (business transformation consulting). Havas Play provides entertainment and experiential marketing capabilities, while Meaningful Brands™ delivers annual consumer research insights. The Converged.AI operating system (€400M investment) powers AI-driven decision making and content creation across all units, supported by the CSA (Converged Science & Analytics) data and AI practice. The company has expanded through multiple bolt-on acquisitions including CA Sports (sports marketing), Acento Public Affairs (strategic advisory), Bearded Kitten (experiential), Unnest (data engineering), Styleheads (cultural marketing), Digizik (entertainment), and Kaimera (media), all integrated into the unified network under H/Advisors for public affairs services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Havas Village Integrated agency model combining creative, media, digital, corporate PR, and consultancy services under one roof with a collaborative approach that builds teams around client needs, serving as a one-stop solution for marketing, consulting, and communications built on global network reach.
• Havas Creative Full-service creative agency offering communications strategy, brand design, advertising, content creation, and brand strategy, built on a global network reach and leveraging cultural insights from the Meaningful Brands research platform to serve enterprise clients worldwide.
• Havas Media Media agency using the proprietary Mx (Media Experience) system to build media experiences that connect clients with target audiences through strategic media planning, buying, and optimization across multiple channels and markets.
• Havas Digital Digital marketing division delivering seamless customer experiences across the entire customer journey by combining content, media, technology, and data capabilities including PPC, SEO, paid social, programmatic, online video, analytics, and CRM services.
• Havas Play Entertainment and experiential marketing unit helping brands earn attention through content, experiences, partnerships, and digital innovation by translating culture into campaigns that perform for enterprise clients.
• Gate One Global business and digital transformation consultancy offering transformation leadership, digital and data consulting, operating model design, culture and change management, M&A advisory, and customer experience optimization for enterprise clients undertaking large-scale transformation.
• Meaningful Brands™ Annual landmark research study (now in its 17th year) that uncovers consumer attitudes, feelings, and behaviors toward brands, surveying 156,000+ people globally to provide insights on brand value, cultural dynamics, and brand resilience for client strategy development.
• H/Advisors Global communications and public affairs advisory network offering strategic advisory services across Iberia, Europe, and internationally through integrated communications consulting, with offices in Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Germany, Australia, and Singapore.
• Converged.AI AI operating system representing a €400 million investment in data, technology, and AI capabilities, enabling AI-driven decision making, content creation, audience building, insights generation, budgeting, and reporting across Havas' global agency network.
• Mx (Media Experience) System Proprietary media planning and optimization system that identifies where to find the most meaningful media to build Media Experiences (Mx) connecting clients with target audiences in contextually relevant environments.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3.1% organic revenue growth exceeding 2.5%-3.0% guidance
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers30 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability11 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered regional, core and minor.

• Tune TalkregionalStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 March 2026Tune Talk partnered with Havas Malaysia for UX/CX transformation across digital platforms using 12-week sprint methodology. The engagement involves UX/UI audits, quantitative and qualitative user research, and stakeholder workshops to improve conversion performance and customer retention as Tune Talk evolves into a full mobile network operator.
• AkkiocoreTechnology or Integration · 9 January 2026Havas partnered with Akkio to enhance its Converged.AI operating system as part of a €400 million investment in data, technology, and AI. The partnership develops localized AI solutions to improve audience building, insights, budgeting, and reporting across Havas' worldwide agency network.
• F.Y. Eye Nonprofit Co-LabminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 2 December 2025Partnership with nonprofit Co-Lab for NYC PSAs, collaborating with NYC nonprofits over four months on public service announcement campaigns.
• MoonfolksregionalStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 January 2025Strategic alliance in Indonesia forming Havas Moonfolks, combining Havas' media expertise with Moonfolks' integrated and digital marketing capabilities under the Converged strategy. Enables seamless integration of Havas proprietary tools including Havas Market, Havas Play, and CSA into the Indonesian market while maintaining Moonfolks' independent creative operations.
• Samsung AdsregionalGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership with Samsung Ads for interactive advertising campaigns using GameBreaks ad unit, enabling gamified ad experiences that delivered 31% uplift in brand consideration for Domino's Pizza.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Publicis Groupe: Publicis Groupe is a Paris-headquartered global advertising and communications holding company with similar creative, media, digital, and healthcare practice structure to Havas. Both operate integrated agency village models and compete directly for the same enterprise brand clients across Europe and globally.
• Omnicom Group: Omnicom owns BBDO, DDB, Omnicom Media Group, and DAS Group of Companies, providing directly comparable creative, media, PR, and healthcare agency services to the same enterprise client base as Havas. Both are listed holding companies competing for the same global brand AOR mandates.
• Dentsu: Dentsu is a Tokyo-headquartered global advertising holding company offering creative, media (Dentsu Media), CXM, and digital transformation services that overlap with Havas' Converged offering. Both target enterprise brand clients and are pursuing similar AI and data-driven operating model transitions.
• WPP: WPP is the world's largest advertising holding company, operating Ogilvy, GroupM, VMLY&R, and other agencies that compete directly with Havas Creative, Havas Media, and Havas Play. Both pursue AI-enabled production strategies (WPP's platform work parallels Converged.AI) and bolt-on M&A in commerce and technology.
• Interpublic Group (IPG): IPG owns McCann, FCB, MullenLowe, and Mediabrands, competing directly with Havas in creative advertising, media planning/buying, and digital transformation services. Both serve similar enterprise verticals including healthcare, F&B, and automotive and pursue AI-led production efficiency.

Emerging players

• Stagwell: Stagwell is a publicly traded marketing and communications group that has been actively acquiring independent agencies globally, competing with Havas for bolt-on M&A targets and overlapping in digital, communications, and media services. Represents the challenger-holding-company thesis.
• S4 Capital / MediaMonks: MediaMonks (S4 Capital) is a digital-first advertising and production company specializing in content, data, and technology-enabled marketing services. It competes with Havas Digital and Havas Play on digitally native enterprise clients and AI-driven production work.

Broad incumbents

• Deloitte Digital: Deloitte Digital combines creative, technology, and consulting capabilities as part of a Big Four professional services firm, increasingly competing with Havas' Gate One transformation unit and Havas Creative for integrated brand-and-transformation mandates.
• Accenture Song: Accenture Song is the experience-led creative and technology arm of Accenture, increasingly competing with Havas for enterprise transformation mandates that combine creative, digital, and consulting capabilities. Represents the consultancy-driven competitive threat to traditional agency holding companies.

Regional players

• Hakuhodo DY Holdings: Hakuhodo is the second-largest advertising agency group in Japan and a leading APAC-based holding company with comparable creative, media, and digital service lines to Havas. Relevant as an APAC-region peer where Havas is currently under-indexed and growing through acquisitions like Kaimera and Moonfolks.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/havasdublin
• Facebookfacebook.com/havasdublin
• Instagraminstagram.com/havasdublin

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Subsidiaries13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A6 records

Investments2 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Havas