Addleshaw Goddard's Dubai Corporate team has advised the founders of leading regional digital media agency hug digital, in relation to their sale of a majority stake to Grey Group (part of the WPP Group).

Founded by Oussama Jamal (Chairman) and Tim Baker (Chief Executive Officer) in 2009, hug digital is one of the largest and fastest growing, 360°digital agencies in the MENA region.

The full extent of the services offered by hug digital encompasses handling their client brands’ social assets, content creation, influencer marketing, digital products development, full-fledged digital campaigns, web and mobile app development, on-ground and digital activations, media planning & buying as well as digital research, analysis and social listening.

Headquartered in Dubai, UAE and with offices in Egypt and India, hug digital has a headcount of 144 full-time staff. Their client roster includes more than 70 international, regional and local brands.

The Addleshaw Goddard team was led by Dubai-based Corporate and M&A Partner, Darren Harris and Ben Sims (Associate).

Darren Harris stated: "We were delighted to work with hug digital and advise Oussama and Tim on this transaction in the digital space. This transaction represents an exciting next phase of the development of hug digital. This is one of a number of transactions that we have advised clients in the digital sector, which we see as a key area of growth across the GCC region. We are proud to have played our role in getting the deal done and wish the hug digital team the very best of success."

"We're very excited about our new partnership." stated Oussama Jamal, Chairman of hug digital. He added, "We are eager to take our digital expertise and knowledge of the MENA region and scale this with WPP and Grey Group. This acquisition will enable us to access resources that will expand our capabilities and accelerate our growth. Addleshaw Goddard provided great support and guidance throughout the process."

"This deal cements 7 years of hard collective work from our fantastic team. To be a part of the world’s largest communications group WPP and partner with Grey feels like a great achievement. We are looking forward to continuing our digital journey with the same enthusiasm as the day we started hug digital. Darren and Ben from Addleshaw Goddard have been exceptional in providing seamless advice in connection with the transaction and were able to provide constructive and commercial solutions to get this transaction over the line.", said Tim Baker, CEO of hug digital.