Havas acquires Format to boost corporate influence communications

What's the deal? HavasDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has acquired FormatDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a French corporate influence communications agency founded in 2021 by Thomas Khaski. The deal, led by Havas Paris, aims to combine traditional media relations with social media, content creators, and digital content production to build what both sides call "next-generation" corporate communications consulting.

Format will keep its name, structure, and operating model. Khaski stays on as chief executive officer, and the agency will continue to operate autonomously. Format's teams will also join H/Advisors, Havas' global strategic advisory network present in more than 20 countries.

Why now? The deal comes as corporate communications undergoes a structural shift. Executives and companies increasingly build their own channels alongside traditional media, while content creators emerge as influential opinion leaders and social media reshapes how information flows.

For Havas Paris — co-headed by Mayada Boulos and Julien Carette — the acquisition adds digital influence expertise and expands its consulting offering to scaleups, SMEs, and mid-sized companies. For Format, it means access to Havas' global scale and broader capabilities.

What could go wrong? Integration is the classic risk. Format's value lies in its agility and entrepreneurial culture — qualities that can erode inside large holding companies. Keeping the agency autonomous on paper is one thing; preserving that independence in practice is another.

There's also the question of whether "corporate influence communications" is a durable category or a rebranding of existing PR and social media services. If clients don't see meaningful differentiation, the combined offering may struggle to command premium positioning.

The signal: Havas, classified by Dealroom as a mature-stage global advertising and communications group, is following a well-worn playbook: large holding companies snapping up nimble, founder-led agencies to plug capability gaps in digital influence and creator-driven content. With Format founded only in 2021, the speed from launch to acquisition underscores how quickly specialist corporate influence shops can attract acquirers in a market where legacy PR models are losing ground to social-first strategies.

Read more: adobomagazine.com