Luxon Carrà heads True North

The pace of consolidation between design consultancies has stepped up another gear, with the acquisition of Luxon Carrà by US group True North Communications in a deal worth up to $18m (£12m).

Luxon Carrà becomes part of Marketing Drive Worldwide, True North’s global marketing services subsidiary. Marketing Drive has headquarters in London and Wilton in the US and employs more than 700 staff in 43 offices.

Luxon Carrà will absorb True North-owned New York consultancy The Peterson Group, giving it a presence in the US city. A head for the New York office is currently being recruited, says Luxon Carrà chief executive Stuart Luxon. No management changes to existing Luxon Carrà offices in San Francisco, London or Hamburg are planned, although the group will now report to its new owner.

The three Luxon Carrà offices employ 55 staff, and have a predicted turnover of $10m (£7m) this year. The Peterson Group employs 20 staff, and is expected to have a turnover of $4.5m (£3m).

“It has become clear over the past couple of years that consolidation has been causing a number of very large companies to be formed,” says Luxon. “We wanted to remain as one of the major players.” True North appealed as a parent group, he says, because it did not have a large branding group, and was prepared to place Luxon Carrà within an appropriate division.

Marketing Drive director Wes Bray says, “We consider that Luxon Carrà‘s strengths in strategic international consultancy will considerably enhance the design services that we can offer.”