GroupM, WPP’s global media investment management arm, to acquire Alchemedia

July 2, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

GroupM, WPP’s global media investment management arm, is to acquire Alchemedia, a media planning & buying agency in South Korea.

Founded in 2004 and based in Seoul, Alchemedia is an independent media planning & buying agency. Alchemedia will be merged into GroupM Korea, and the combined company’s client roster will include Audi, GSK, Hicos Fragrances, IBM, LG Electronics, Lock & Lock, Procter & Gamble, Sejung Fashion, Red Bull, Rolex and VW.

Alchemedia’s audited revenues for the year ended 31 December 2011 were KRW 1.4 billion, with gross assets of KRW 10.0 billion.

UK, London & South Korea, Seoul

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Ogilvy & Mather to acquire a stake in Today Advertising in Myanmar

May 21, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Ogilvy & Mather, a wholly-owned subsidiary of WPP, is to acquire a stake in Today Advertising, an advertising agency in Myanmar.  Based in Yangon, Today Advertising employs 60 people.

This investment continues WPP’s strategy of developing its services in fast-growing and important markets and sectors and brings the total number of countries in which the Group operates to 108. WPP’s businesses in the Asia Pacific region now generate revenues of over US$4 billion (including associates) and employ approximately 42,000 people, contributing to Group revenues of over US$16 billion (including associates) and total employees of over 158,000.

UK, London & Myanmar, Yangon

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Publicis Groupe Acquires Longtuo

May 14, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Publicis Groupe has acquired Beijing-based Longtuo, a digital marketing company with strong eCommerce expertise in creative, customer acquisition, marketing solutions and measurement tools. Longtuo will be part of the Groupe-owned Razorfish network and will be named Razorfish Longtuo China.

Founded in 2000, Longtuo employs 200 people throughout its Beijing headquarters and Shanghai and Guangzhou offices. The addition of Longtuo will more than double the size of Razorfish in China, which currently employs 130 people and provides e-Commerce services to clients such as Converse, Hertz, and GM Onstar.

Longtuo serves a prestigious roster of Chinese marketers including 360buy, Kohler, Masamaso, Taobao (the country’s two largest B2C e-Commerce portals) and Yves Rocher. Longtuo also contracts work for Renault, providing website development and content management, as well as traffic measurement and analysis.

The acquisition of Longtuo will give Publicis Groupe more commanding clout in China’s booming e-Commerce market, which Forrester projects to be a $94.6 billion business in 2012. eMarketer estimates the market to grow at more than 92% annually for the next three years and forecasts China will become the world’s largest e-Commerce marketplace by 2015.

Longtuo’s CEO and founding partner, SU Yi, will become Managing Director of Razorfish Longtuo China, and will report to Vincent Digonnet, President of Razorfish Asia Pacific and Executive Chairman of Razorfish Greater China.

Jean-Yves Naouri, Publicis Groupe COO and Chairman of Publicis Groupe China added: “The forecasts for e-Commerce growth in China are spectacular. With new advances in payment technology, broadband access and safe delivery systems making e-Commerce an attractive alternative to retail shops, China has the potential to become the world’s premier e-Commerce market very swiftly, outstripping even the United States. This acquisition means we’re now perfectly positioned to offer our international clients first-in-class local expertise. In addition, with 70% of e-Commerce spending in China currently going to Chinese businesses, Longtuo opens our doors to a number of key clients. The Groupe is accelerating our drive to meet our ambitious targets for growth in China.”

The acquisition of Longtuo is another step towards Publicis Groupe’s objective to double its size in the fast-growing Chinese market between 2010 and 2013. This goal is part of an overall strategy of strongly boosting revenue derived from emerging economies and from the digital sector. In the past four months Publicis Groupe has acquired four agencies based inChina: UBS (February 2012), King Harvests (March 2012), Luminous (March 2012) and now Longtuo. Since 2010, the Groupe has acquired W&K (April 2010) G4 (July 2010) Eastwei Relations (November 2010), Interactive Communications Ltd (February 2011), Dreams (May 2011), Genedigi (June 2011), Wangfan (November 2011), and Gomye (November 2011).

France, Paris & China, Beijing

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Publicis Groupe has acquired Indigo Consulting

April 24, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Publicis Groupe has acquired Indigo Consulting, a full-service Indian agency providing website design and development, search engine optimisation, usability research and testing, and marketing online, on mobiles and in social media.

Since it was founded in 2000, Indigo Consulting has developed websites, software solutions and digital marketing programs for clients around the world, including Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, HSBC (India, Asia-Pacific and Middle East), Loop Mobile, Tata AIG Insurance and South Australia Tourism. The agency currently employs a team of 160 at its Mumbai headquarters and Delhi office. Their work has been recognised with Webby awards, W3 awards and Abbys.

Indigo Consulting will operate as a unit within the Leo Burnett Group in India and will retain its name. Its founder, Vikas Tandon, will remain as Managing Director, reporting into Arvind Sharma, Chairman of the Indian Subcontinent for Leo Burnett.

“From a global point of view, the potential and opportunities that India offers are massive,” explained Tom Bernardin, Chairman and CEO of Leo Burnett Worldwide. “Over the years we have increased our efforts into this important market. Indigo Consulting, with its strong track record as a full-service interactive and technology agency, is the perfect strategic fit for our aspirations in India and around the world”.

“This alignment means we will bring our world-class digital marketing capabilities to Leo Burnett’s clients, while also benefiting from additional knowledge and insight on brand and creative communication through cross-training and collaboration,” said Vikas Tandon, Managing Director of Indigo Consulting.

“Our growth strategy for Leo Burnett in India and Asia Pacific is based on two core pillars: digital and shopper-marketing” added Jarek Ziebinski, President of Leo Burnett Asia Pacific. “India is a key market for us, and it’s reporting explosive growth in the digital sector. We want to make sure Leo Burnett has the right infrastructure in place to meet the needs of tomorrow. I also see Indigo Consulting developing beyond India, to become an important player within our network in Asia Pacific and globally.”

Currently advertising and marketing online represents less than 3% of overall adspend in India, according to ZenithOptimedia, but the sector is forecasted to boom. ZenithOptimedia estimates that over the next three years, India’s digital adspend will increase by roughly 30% a year, driven by the spread of smartphones and the youth culture of social networks. Publicis Groupe aims to double its size by 2015 in India, which is the world’s 16th largest advertising market.

France, Paris & India, Mumbai

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Hitachi Consulting acquires sustainability consultancy PRIZIM

April 19, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Hitachi Consulting, a provider of IT consulting and management consulting solutions and services, has acquired PRIZIM Inc., a management consulting firm dedicated to sustainability audit, consulting, training and managed service solutions.

‘This acquisition is an important building block in our quest to strengthen our management consulting business with high value solutions and services,’ said Phil Parr, President and CEO of Hitachi Consulting. ‘PRIZIM’s industry-leading services and high level of sustainability expertise is a great complement to our existing Environmental Sustainability Solutions. As we combine these attributes with our deep industry knowledge and strong enterprise application technology capabilities, we can look forward to expanding and deepening our client engagements.’

Headquartered in Maryland, PRIZIM is a professional services firm specialising in sustainability with approximately 45 employees. The company helps organisations seeking superior sustainability performance with a wide range of services including environmental assessment and auditing; strategy, scientific, and technical consulting services; training and facilitation; and outsourced support. PRIZIM’s clients include companies in the private sector; federal, state, and local government agencies; hospitals and universities; nonprofit organizations; and foreign governments and businesses.

Japan, Tokyo & USA, Gaithersburg, MD

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Omnicom Media Group China acquires NIM DIGITAL

April 19, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Omnicom Media Group is to acquire NIM DIGITAL, a digital agency in China specialising in media planning & buying, search and digital production services. This partnership will enable Omnicom Media Group to broaden its digital expertise and scale to the benefit of its client portfolio.

Barry Cupples, CEO Omnicom Media Group Asia Pacific, said “NIM DIGITAL has a strong local presence and deep industry expertise. We are pleased to bring them into our group and believe they will be a great asset. Both Omnicom Media Group and NIM DIGITAL’s clients will benefit from the combined entity’s increased media communications scale, digital media portfolio and expanded service offerings.”

Doug Pearce, CEO Omnicom Media Group China, said “with NIM DIGITAL, we are partnering with one of the premier digital entities in China, one that is focused on delivering outstanding work and value to their clients.” He continued “while we have grown organically very quickly, the addition of NIM DIGITAL will add significantly to our digital capabilities, particularly in search, while having access to digital production increases the breadth of our service offering to clients.”

China, Shanghai

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JWT to acquires stake in digital agency, Converge Technologies in Pakistan

March 20, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

JWT (part of the WPP group)is to acquire, by subscription for new shares, a minority stake in Converge Technologies Pvt Limited, a leading provider of technology-based marketing solutions and digital marketing services agency in Pakistan.

Converge’s offer includes 360 degree activation, digital content marketing, customized applications for SMS, interactive voice response, web, WAP, kiosk and platforms, digital viral marketing, data and research management and content services including music, interactive voice response, script writing, production and post production, interactive web portals, entertainment content, news and broadband gaming, and building mobile websites.

Founded in 2007, Converge is based in Karachi and employs 90 people. Clients include Nokia, Pakistan State Oil, PTCL and Unilever.  Converge’s revenues for the year ended 30 June 2011 were PKR 187 million, with gross assets at the same date of PKR 76 million.

Pakistan, Karachi

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Are CNN about to buy Mashable?

March 14, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

It is being reported that CNN are in advanced talks to buy Mashable for up to $200M.

Mashable describes itself as the largest independent news source dedicated to covering digital culture, social media and technology. It stories are syndicated to publications including ABC News, CNN, Metro, USA Today and Yahoo! News.

Mashable was founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005 in Banchory, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, supposedly from his bedroom as “something to do without getting out of bed”. Mashable is now headquartered in New York City, with an office in San Francisco and has more than 40 staff across the United States, United Kingdom and in Eastern Europe.

Last August CNN bought Zite, a news app for the iPad that gives users a personalised magazine-like experience, for up to £16million.

Other reporting

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USA, New York, NY & Scotland, Aberdeenshire

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Publicis Groupe acquires King Harvests and Luminous

March 8, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

Publicis Groupe has acquired two specialty marketing agencies in Asia: King Harvests and Luminous.  Both agencies will be integrated into MSLGROUP, the flagship strategic communications network of Publicis Groupe. Founded in 2002, with 360-degree marketing capabilities across Tier-one and Tier-two cities in Mainland China, King Harvests’ staff of more than 100 offer particularly strong expertise in both events and experiential marketing to local and international clients including Bosch, Haier, Sanyo and Siemens.

Established in 2005 and with more than 40 employees, Luminous is an award-winning experiential marketing consultancy with offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Macau. Luminous produces live marketing events for clients including Cathay Pacific, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Prudential.

Agency heads Laura Lee and Antony Spanbrook – founders of King Harvests and Luminous, respectively – will report to Isabelle Chouvet, the founder of Emotion, MSLGROUP’s high-end and luxury events communication agency in Asia. King Harvests’ and Luminous’ experiential marketing expertise will enrich the scope of Emotion’s service offering.

“We have made our development in fast-growing markets in general, and China in particular, a top priority for the Groupe,” explained Jean-Yves Naouri, Publicis Groupe COO and Chairman, Publicis Groupe China. “The acquisitions of King Harvests and Luminous are important milestones, and further testimony to our commitment to China. We will continue strengthening our capabilities and footprint in China for the benefit of our clients and employees.”

Olivier Fleurot, MSLGROUP CEO, commented “Experiential marketing is today viewed by both agencies and clients as one of the biggest marketing opportunities for the next few years, alongside social/digital. We’re therefore very excited to have King Harvests and Luminous join us to expand our Asian offering in this space.”

“People today want the chance to experience a brand‘s promisesfor themselves,“ Isabelle Chouvet added. “‘Experiential‘ is a huge growth area globally, and by bringing King Harvests and Luminous into the fold we can offer more of what our clients are increasingly asking for in Asia today.” Chouvet will now oversee a network of 280 people in Asia, across Beijing, Hong Kong,Macau, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.

King Harvests and Luminous are the latest in a series of acquisitions in Greater China by Publicis Groupe, including Eastwei Relations, Interactive Communications Ltd (ICL), Dreams, Genedigi, Wangfan, Gomye and most recently UBS. It is in line with Publicis Groupe’s strategy to increase its presence in fast growing markets, with China at its core and where Publicis Groupe has set an objective to double its size.

France, Paris & Hong Kong & China, Shanghai

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IHS closes three acquisitions:

March 5, 2012 — Fusion DigiNet

IHS Inc. has closed three acquisitions:

  • Displaybank, a market research and consulting provider for the display industry,
  • the Computer Assisted Product Selection (CAPS) electronic components database and tools business from PartMiner Worldwide,
  • and the digital oil and gas pipeline and infrastructure information business from Hild Technology Services.

The combined purchase price of the acquisitions is approximately $45 million.

Displaybank delivers a portfolio of products and services focused on subscription-based market and planning advisory services, consulting-based business advisory services, conferences and events serving the global flat-panel display industry. Founded in 1999, Displaybank is headquartered in Seoul, Korea, with offices in the U.S., Japan, China and Taiwan.

“The acquisition of Displaybank will help to solidify our position as a world-leading provider of technology, media and telecommunications information and analysis,” said IHS Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jerre Stead. “With its base of operations in Korea, Displaybank will also deepen our Asia Pacific research and analysis capabilities – an area that’s critical to our company’s growth.”

The CAPS database is a source for identifying specific electronic components based on engineering specifications. It combines information on more than 265 million physical devices, along with intuitive tools for integration into engineering design processes and applications. It includes comprehensive and current information for electronic and electro-mechanical components to support engineering selection and procurement decisions for military and commercial applications.

IHS President and Chief Operating Officer Scott Key said: “The acquisition of the CAPS family of products will significantly enhance our existing electronic parts information business to provide greater breadth and depth of content to our global customers. The CAPS content coverage, selection and list management tools, sourcing relationships and integration framework, along with the subscription nature of the CAPS business, makes it an excellent strategic fit for IHS as well.

Hild Technology’s digital oil and gas pipeline and infrastructure information business meets a need for energy producers and refiners in North America, offering pipeline infrastructure information for upstream strategic planners, gas marketers and refiners. The information is updated daily and available on a national, state and county level, and is delivered via shapefiles, geodatabase and secure data exchange, along with 11 years of historical data.

According to Key, the acquisition of Hild’s oil and gas pipeline and infrastructure information business “will help IHS meet a critical need for energy producers and refiners in North America by integrating it into the existing IHS Midstream Essentials product and creating an even more robust offering that adds tremendous value for our customers.”

USA, Englewood, CO & Korea, Seoul

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IHS makes five acquisitions – CMAI, ODS-Petrodata, Dyadem International, EIATrack & CSM South America Posted on June 14, 2011

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