6 new WPP acquisitions

July 7, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

wpp1. Kantar acquires majority stake in data visualisation and interactive specialist Guardian Digital Agency, in the UK

WPP’s wholly-owned data investment management arm, Kantar, has acquired the Guardian Digital Agency (“GDA”), a specialist data visualisation, site design and interactive development agency, previously part of Guardian News and Media Group. The company, which employs 13 people, will be rebranded under the new name Graphic. Many of Kantar’s 12 companies have already worked with GDA.

UK, London

 2. Grey to acquire a majority stake in Circus, Peru’s largest independent advertising agency

WPP’s wholly-owned operating company Grey, is to acquire a majority stake in Circus Peru S.A., the largest independent adverting agency in Peru.

Founded in 2008, Circus is a full-service integrated marketing company. Its subsidiaries include Circus Interactive, Circus Retail, Circus Experience, Brand Lab, a design company, and Carne, a second advertising agency. Circus will be integrated into the existing Grey Peru and be renamed Circus Grey.

Circus’ unaudited revenues were PEN 34 million as of December 31, 2013 with net assets of PEN 9.0 million as of the same date. Clients include Grupo Credito, Grupo Falabella, Claro and San Fernando. Based in Lima, the agency employs nearly 200 people.

Other WPP companies active in Peru (including affiliates) are Young & Rubicam, Ogilvy & Mather, J. Walter Thompson, GroupM, Burson-Marsteller, IBOPE, Kantar Worldpanel, TNS and Geometry Global.

UK, London & Peru, Lima

3. Millward Brown acquires global brand strategy company EffectiveBrands

WPP’s wholly-owned operating company Millward Brown, has acquired EffectiveBrands Holding B.V., a marketing strategy consulting firms.

Founded in 2001 by Marc de Swaan Arons and Frank van den Driest, the company’s unaudited revenues for the year ended 31 March 2014 were approximately EUR 14.1 million with gross assets at the same date of approximately EUR 6.5 million. Clients include Pernod Ricard, Virgin, Barclays, Unilever and PepsiCo. EffectiveBrands is headquartered in Amsterdam with offices in London, New York, Singapore and Tokyo and employs about 65 people.

Millward Brown will combine EffectiveBrands with Millward Brown Optimor, its strategy consulting unit, to form Millward Brown Vermeer. Millward Brown

UK, London & The Netherlands, Amsterdam

4. WT acquires majority stake in creative agency The Hardy Boys in South Africa

WPP’s wholly-owned operating company JWT, has acquired a majority stake in The Hardy Boys, a leading creative agency in South Africa.

Founded in 1994 in Durban, The Hardy Boys is a multi-disciplinary, brand building agency, with fully integrated activation capabilities. Clients include Unilever, Diageo, SA Home Loans, ADvTECH and RCL Foods amongst others.

The Hardy Boys’ revenues for the year ended 28 February 2014 were approximately ZAR 55 million, with gross assets at the same date of approximately ZAR 32.2 million.

UK, London & South Africa, Durban

5. Kantar Media acquires media intelligence business Precise

WPP’s wholly-owned media research and analytics business Kantar Media, has acquired a majority stake in the issued share capital of Precise Media Group Holdings Limited, a provider of monitoring and evaluation services.

Founded in 1996 and based in London, with offices in New York, Precise employs 430 people servicing 2,500 customers including multinational corporations, PR agencies, public sector bodies and SME clients. For the year ending 30 September 2013, Precise’s revenues were £28.9 million, with gross assets as at the same date of £34.4 million.

UK, London & USA, New York, NY

6. XM Asia to acquire majority stake in Sofresh in Vietnam

WPP’s wholly owned operating company, XM Asia, a JWT company, is to acquire a majority stake in Sofresh, a leading digital creative agency in Vietnam.

Sofresh, co-founded in 2007 by Ly Viet Vu and Justin Cohen, develops digital strategy, digital creative ideas and marketing campaigns across multiple digital channels, including social media, mobile and the web. The company also designs and builds e-commerce platforms, customer relationship management systems and in-store digital installations.

Sofresh works with a range of local and global clients, including Diageo, GSK, Kinh Do, Techcombank and Unilever.

Sofresh had revenues of VND 35.7 billion for the year ending December 31, 2013, with gross assets of VND 30.1 billion, as at the same date. The company employs 85 people.

Sofresh marks WPP’s third acquisition in Vietnam in seven months. In Vietnam, WPP companies (including associates) generate revenues of about $80 million and employ approximately 1,000 people.

UK, London & Vietnam

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Grey to acquire advertising and communications company The Volcano Group in South Africa

May 15, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

wppWPP’s wholly-owned operating company Grey, the global marketing communications agency, has agreed to acquire a majority stake in The Volcano Group, a leading South African advertising and communications company. Following acquisition, The Volcano Group will rebrand as Grey Africa.

Founded in 1994 in Johannesburg, Volcano provides integrated marketing services covering traditional and digital advertising, PR, insight and social. Clients include Procter & Gamble, First National Bank, Sony and Consol Glass.

Volcano’s unaudited consolidated revenues for the year ended 31 May 2013 were approximately ZAR 61 million, with gross assets at the same date of approximately ZAR 26 million.

UK, London & South Africa, Johannesburg

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WPP to acquire digital marketing agency Quirk in South Africa

May 6, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

wppWPP is to to acquire Quirk, Africa’s largest independently owned digital marketing agency, subject to regulatory approval.

Founded in 1999 in South Africa, Quirk has built a strong reputation for helping clients adapt and win in an ever-changing digitally-enabled world. With five agencies across Africa and in London, the company employs 200 people. Clients include Distell, Capitec Bank, Woolworths, Caltex and Tyco.

Quirk’s unaudited consolidated revenues for the year ended 28 February 2014 were approximately ZAR 140 million, with gross assets at the same date of approximately ZAR 68 million.

UK, London & South Africa, Cape Town

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GroupM takes majority stake in mobile media agency aMVG (Aerodeon) in Turkey

May 2, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

wppWPP‘s wholly-owned global media investment management company GroupM, is to take majority stake in aMVG (Aerodeon), the mobile media agency and mobile technology company in Turkey.

Founded in 2002, aMVG (Aerodeon) specialises in developing mobile media strategies and technologies for its clients.  This includes mobile media buying and planning, mobile marketing campaigns, mobile loyalty platforms, mobile applications development, ad server technologies (mobile and video) and content distribution/digital services.

The agency employs approximately 40 people and serves more than 300 clients including Avea, Dailymotion, Garanti Bank, Fiat, Finansbank, Fizy, Shell, Turkcell, Turk Telekom, Vodafone and Yapı Kredi Bank.

 aMVG’s unaudited revenues for the year ended 31 December 2013 were TRY8.9 million with gross assets of approximately TRY8.4 million as at the same date.

UK, London & Turkey, Istanbul

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Ogilvy & Mather acquires a majority stake in Memac in the MENA region

March 12, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

ogilvyWPP‘s wholly-owned marketing communications network, Ogilvy & Mather, has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Memac Ogilvy, a  marketing services company covering markets throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Founded in Bahrain in 1984, Memac Ogilvy has been associated with Ogilvy & Mather since 1986. Ogilvy & Mather has been a minority shareholder since 1998. Within the Memac Ogilvy group are also the OgilvyOne, OgilvyAction, Ogilvy Public Relations, neo@Ogilvy, Geometry Global and CB’a Memac brands, as well as holding partnership interests in Mindshare MENA, AMRB and MediaCom.

Memac Ogilvy serves over 150 international, regional and local brands including Almarai, Coca-Cola, Arab Bank, IBM and American Express and employs over 570 people in its 14 offices throughout the region. Memac’s consolidated unaudited revenues for the year ended 31 December 2013 were US$ 80 million, with gross assets as at the same date of US$ 42.7 million.

Uk, London and Bahrain

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Ogilvy & Mather acquires a majority stake in Memac in the MENA region

March 12, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

wppWPP’s wholly-owned marketing communications network, Ogilvy & Mather, has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Memac Ogilvy, a leading marketing services company covering markets throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Founded in Bahrain in 1984, Memac Ogilvy has been associated with Ogilvy & Mather since 1986. Ogilvy & Mather has been a minority shareholder since 1998. Within the Memac Ogilvy group are also the OgilvyOne, OgilvyAction, Ogilvy Public Relations, neo@Ogilvy, Geometry Global and CB’a Memac brands, as well as holding partnership interests in Mindshare MENA, AMRB and MediaCom.

Memac Ogilvy serves over 150 international, regional and local brands including Almarai, Coca-Cola, Arab Bank, IBM and American Express and employs over 570 people in its 14 offices throughout the region. Memac’s consolidated unaudited revenues for the year ended 31 December 2013 were US$ 80 million, with gross assets as at the same date of US$ 42.7 million.

UK, London & Bahrain

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Tarsus Group plc – acquisitions in China and Turkey – disposal in France

January 8, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

TarsusTarsus Group, the international business-to-business media group, has ended the year strongly with like-for-like organic revenue growth up by approximately 11%. Tarsus has also made new acquisitions in China and Turkey and agreed to dispose of up to 18% of the Group’s French business.

China – SIUF acquisition

The Group is to acquire 50% of the China (Shenzhen) International Brand Underwear Fair (“SIUF”) from Mr Zhang Fengwei and associates. SIUF was launched in 2006 and has become a leading show in the Asian Pacific market for underwear garments. It is an annual event, held in May at the Shenzhen Exhibition and Conference Centre in Southern China. The show comprised 15,900 square metres (net) of space in 2013 and Tarsus expects it to continue its track record of growth in 2014.

To date, SIUF’s core business has focused on domestic brands but going forward will seek to internationalise the exhibitor range as well as launch a new sourcing event for lingerie manufacturers. Mr Zhang Fengwei and associates will continue to manage the business post acquisition.

The consideration will be met from Tarsus’ existing cash resources and bank debt facilities. The acquisition is conditional on Chinese regulatory approvals and is expected to complete in the next few months.

Turkey – IFO minority interest acquisition

The Group acquired the outstanding 25% of the issued share capital of Istanbul based IFO not already owned by Tarsus in December 2013 from Mr Selahattin Durak, who will become an advisor to the Group. The Group purchased the initial 75% in June 2011.

IFO is one of the leading exhibition businesses in Turkey whose three events are Asansor (Lifts), REW Istanbul (Recycling and Waste Management) and Sign Istanbul (Outdoor Advertising and Visual Communications). The consideration will be met from Tarsus’ existing cash resources and bank debt facilities.

France

The Group has agreed to sell up to 18% of its French business to Romuald Gadrat, the incumbent Managing Director of the division, who will continue to run the business going forward.

Douglas Emslie, Tarsus Group Managing Director, said:

“These transactions are another key step in the execution of our “Quickening the Pace” strategy.

“We are delighted to add SIUF, a market leading exhibition to our portfolio. China is an important market for us and this acquisition fits with our “Quickening the Pace” strategy as well as providing synergies with our Off-Price shows in the US. This acquisition will consolidate our position in this fast growth market.

“IFO was Tarsus’s first purchase in Turkey and we have been very pleased with its performance since then, so we are delighted to acquire the remaining 25% stake in the business.”

The Group expects to announce its final results for the year ended 31 December 2013 during the week commencing 3 March 2014.

UK, London & China, Shenzhen & Turkey, Istanbul & France, Paris

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Global M&A Performance Roars Back in 2013

January 1, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

Acquirers around the world enjoyed their best performance this year since the financial crisis began in 2008, outperforming companies not involved in M&A activity by an average of 4.7%, according to Towers Watson’s Quarterly Deal Performance Monitor.

The study of completed M&A deals over $100 million, conducted in partnership with Cass Business School in London, shows that during 2013, North America acquirers outperformed those in other regions at 8.1% above the regional MSCI Index. This represented a significant turnaround from last year, when the region underperformed the index by 1.3%.

Acquiring companies in Asia Pacific outperformed the regional index by 3.5% (compared to a 0.1% underperformance in 2012), while performance in Europe came in at 2.2% above the regional index (compared to 2.4% in 2012).

“The big M&A story for 2013 is how well acquirers’ stock performed relative to that of non-acquirers across the three regions we track. And North America acquirers showed the most dramatic reversal, underperforming the index in 2012, then outperforming the index so strongly this year,” said Jim McKay, North America M&A practice leader at Towers Watson.

North America continues to lead the other regions in terms of the volume of deals completed, with 375 deals over $100 million so far in 2013. This accounts for nearly 60% of the global total. Asia Pacific has overtaken Europe as the second-most active M&A region, completing 141 deals to Europe’s 104. As a result, for the second year in a row, Europe had the lowest number of completed deals in 2013 and its lowest level since 2009.

The research also shows that in 2013, there were fewer megadeals (those over $10 billion) than in prior years. There were only four such deals in 2013, none of which occurred in the second half of the year. This marks the first time this has occurred for any six-month period in nearly three years.

The data also show that in 2013, slow deals (those taking over 70 days from announcement to completion) performed better than deals completed rapidly (7.0% versus 3.1%). In addition, domestic deals (where the acquirer and the target company are both based in the same country) outperformed cross-border deals by 5.2%.

“While many companies have cash to spend on acquisitions, and the economic outlook is improving for many countries, the research confirms that most companies are still taking a surprisingly restrained approach to M&A,” said McKay. “Such caution is understandable, but we do know from previous research that companies buying into a rising market tend to outperform their peers to a greater extent than those buying in a flat or declining market. So if the markets remain strong, those companies willing to be among the early movers in their industry are likely to see a clear advantage.”

USA, London and UK, London

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ITE Group – Annual Financial Report

December 27, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

ITEInternational trade exhibitions and conferences group ITE Group has published its Annual Financial Report for the year to September 2013. 

The group continued to expand its business in the year through a mixture of organic and acquisition led growth and has now established itself in the Asian exhibition markets through its investments in ABEC in India, Tradelink and ECMI in Malaysia and since the end of the financial year in Sinostar in China.

Good organic growth across ITE’s core portfolios in Russia and the CIS together with a strong biennial performance from the Moscow International Oil and Gas Exhibition have combined with the newly acquired businesses in Asia to deliver record financial and operating results.

In this, the stronger year of its biennial pattern, ITE’s revenues were £192.3 million (2012: £172.3 million) and yielded headline profits before tax of £59.4 million (2012: £53.0 million) and headline diluted earnings per share of 19.3p (2012: 16.9p). Reported pre‑tax profit was £43.9 million (2012: £40.5 million) and fully diluted earnings per share was 14.0p (2012: 12.8p). The Group finished the year with net cash of £23.5 million (2012: £13.0 million), after investing £26.1 million on acquisitions during the year.

Although large events have traded well, much of 2013 growth has come from ITE’s portfolio of medium sized events, often run from the smaller regional offices. This growth in smaller events looks set to continue into 2014, and ITE forecasts economic growth in Russia to be maintained at current levels.

At 30 November revenues booked for 2014 were £106 million, representing circa 55% of market expectations for 2014 revenues. On a like‑for‑like basis revenues are circa 7% ahead of last year.

The recent announcement of the Sinostar joint venture means ITE enters the new financial year with good business prospects in three of the major emerging market economies: Russia, India and China.

Download ITE’s 2013 Annual Financial Report here.

UK, London

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WPP’s December acquisitions – Crystal Semantics, Vocanic, Social Lab, Fisheye Analytics, Richard Attias & Associates, ARMI, RC&M, ClickMedia and MASSCOM

December 27, 2013 — Fusion DigiNet

wppWPP ends the year with nine acquisitions.

1) Mindshare to acquire MASSCOM media agency in Philippines: December 20, 2013

WPP’s wholly owned operating company, Mindshare, a global media agency network, is to acquire the business and assets of Media Arts System and Services Company, Inc. in the Philippines.

MASSCOM was established in 1986 as an independent media agency, serving Unilever exclusively in the Philippines. MASSCOM provides media planning, strategy and buying services to Unilever, the global fast-moving consumer goods company and a top advertiser in the Philippines.

2) GroupM to acquire majority stake in social media marketing agency, ClickMedia in Vietnam: December 19, 2013

WPP’s wholly owned operating company, GroupM, WPP’s global media investment management arm, is to acquire a majority stake in ClickMedia, a social media marketing agency in Vietnam.

Established in 2008, ClickMedia is a full service social media marketing firm which provides social media strategy, campaign strategy and implementation, as well as social media listening, crisis prevention and management.

Clients include Unilever, FrieslandCampina, Piaggio and Estee Lauder. ClickMedia’s unaudited revenues for the year ended 31 December 2012 were VND 23.7 billion with unaudited gross assets at the same date of VND 12.0 billion. The agency employs 55 people.

3) Grey to acquire majority stake in RC&M, a rural communications and marketing services provider in India: December 18, 2013

WPP’s wholly owned operating company, Grey, the advertising network of Grey Group, has agreed to acquire a majority stake in RC&M, one of India’s largest rural communications and marketing services providers.

RC&M is a pioneer in experiential marketing in India, delivering integrated activation solutions, encompassing creative designing to production & implementation. With a formidable reach across 400,000 Indian villages and 5,000 towns, the company is a leader in the organised rural/semi-urban activation market.

Founded in 1990, RC&M is headquartered in Delhi, with offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru.

RC&M’s unaudited revenues for the year ending 31 March 2013 were approximately INR 360 million. The company employs more than 320 people and services clients in the automotive, industrial automation, FMCG and durable sectors.

RC&M marks WPP’s 12th acquisition in India in the last nine years.

4) Millward Brown acquires majority stake in ARMI-Marketing in Russia and Ukraine: December 18, 2013

WPP’s wholly-owned operating company Millward Brown, a global leader in brand, media and communications research, is to acquire a majority stake in ARMI-Marketing in Russia.

Founded in 1992 and headquartered in Moscow, ARMI is a leading provider of market research services in Russia and Ukraine. Clients include leading multinational and local brands, including two-thirds of Russia’s top 15 advertisers.

ARMI’s consolidated unaudited revenues for the year ended 31 December 2012 were approximately RUB 735 million. The company employs around 200 people.

5) WPP takes stake in Richard Attias & Associates: December 17, 2013

WPP has taken a 30% stake in strategic consultants Richard Attias & Associates.

Under the active leadership of founder chairman Richard Attias, RAA has built a reputation for helping governments and corporations articulate their global objectives.

Events led by Attias include the World Economic Forum in Davos and other regions, the Clinton Global Initiative, launch of the Euro in 2000, the 2008 Arab Strategy Forum, the APEC CEO Summit in Hawaii, the 15th African Securities Exchange Association in Marrakech, Doha GOALS Forum, The Middle East Peace Summit in Jordan, the contract for the signature of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in Marrakech, the Monaco Media Forum and the Nobel Laureates Conference. In 2010, Richard Attias founded The New York Forum, an annual meeting to promote economic leadership and in 2012, The New York Forum AFRICA, a pan-African business and investment platform. In 2014, RAA will be producing 14 symposiums.

Commenting on the partnership, WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell said, “By building this partnership with global influencer Richard Attias , WPP confirms its strategy to support countries to brand their nations and corporations to have access to faster growing markets. Our ambition is to create together with Richard a world champion in the field of strategic communication, international conferences and global action oriented events.”

RAA is based in New York, with other offices in Paris, London, Rabat and Dubai. RAA employs 50 people and has revenues of around US$35 million.

Public sector clients of RAA have included the African Development Bank, Bahrain, Brazil, China, Dubai, France, Gabon, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, UAE, UK, United Nations and the US.

6) Kantar to acquire Fisheye Analytics, a media monitoring and analytics services business in Singapore : December 16, 2013

WPP’s wholly-owned data investment management business Kantar, is to acquire the entire issued share capital of Fisheye Analytics Pte. Ltd., a media monitoring and analytics services business based in Singapore.

Founded in 2009 in Singapore with an R&D centre in Hyderabad, Fisheye employs 14 people. The company, which will become part of Kantar Media, works with some of the biggest sports governing bodies, international organisations and governments from Europe to Asia.

For the year ending 31 October 2013, Fisheye’s unaudited revenues were SGD 782,871, with gross assets as at the same date of SGD 332,162.

7) Ogilvy & Mather to acquire majority stake in social marketing agency, Social Lab in Belgium : December 12, 2013

WPP’s wholly-owned marketing communications network, Ogilvy & Mather, has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Social Lab, a social marketing agency based in Belgium with offices in Paris and Amsterdam.

Founded in 2010 and employing 50 people, Social Lab specialises in social media marketing. Clients include IKEA, Club Med, Interbrew, L’Oréal, Galbani, Electrabel GDF Suez, Nespresso, Oasis, Delhaize and the National Lotery. Social Lab’s unaudited revenues for the year ended 31 December 2012 were EUR 3.1 million with gross assets as at the same date of EUR 0.4million.

8) GroupM to acquire majority stake in Vocanic, a social media marketing business in Asia : December 10, 2013

WPP’s wholly-owned operating company, GroupM, WPP’s global media investment management arm, is to acquire a majority stake in Vocanic Pte Ltd., a social media marketing business in Asia.

Based in Singapore with offices in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, Vocanic is a full service social media marketing firm. Established in 2005, Vocanic has 70 people providing social media strategy consulting, social technology, social media program and campaign management, community management and social media analytics.

For the year ending 31 December 2012, Vocanic’s revenues were SGD 4.3 million, with gross assets of SGD 2.1 million.

Vocanic’s client list includes blue chip business partners such as StarHub, Axis, EDB, SAP, Astro, Unilever, Dell, Symantec, Mead Johnson, Danone, WingTai Retail, MHD, and Standard Chartered Bank.

9) 24/7 Media acquires digital agency Crystal Semantics In the UK: December 9, 2013

WPP Digital’s marketing technology company 24/7 Media, has acquired the entire issued share capital of Crystal Semantics Limited. Crystal Semantics is a provider of semantic advertising solutions.

With its proprietary technology, Crystal Semantics accurately matches advertising to the meaning of a page of web content, greatly reducing the risk of inappropriate advertising placement. With the acquisition, the combined companies will provide distinct advantages to both advertiser and publisher clients through improved advertising relevance and enhanced brand protection. Founded in 2001 and based in London, Crystal Semantics is a major provider of online data services to advertising agencies, networks and exchanges.

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