WPP goes fourth

WPP Group plc, a London-based communications services provider, has closed its fourth acquisition in as many days after it bought a majority stake in an Indian events and promotions company.


WPP Group plc, a London-based communications services provider, has closed its fourth acquisition in as many days after it bought a majority stake in an Indian events and promotions company.

WPP Group plc, a London-based communications services provider, has closed its fourth acquisition in as many days after it bought a majority stake in an Indian events and promotions company.

The group acquired an undisclosed shareholding in Encompass Events on behalf of its JWT subsidiary, a marketing services network.

The deal is part of WPP’s strategy of developing its networks through targeted acquisitions. It follows recent deals for Rikes Communications of Hong Kong, media research specialist Integrated Media Measurement and consultancy group AGENDA.

The financial terms of this latest deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, have not been disclosed.

New Delhi-based Encompass Events was established in 1996 by Roshan Abbas and Sukrit Singh. It has 240 employees in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Calcutta, Hyderabad and Singapore. The company’s clients include Accenture, Ford, GlaxoSmithKline, Hewlett-Packard, HSBC, Microsoft, National Geographic Channel, Nokia and PepsiCo.

WPP’s operations include advertising, public relations and branding as well as communications and promotions services. The group is worth £7.8 billion and has 100,000 employees in its 2,000 offices in 106 countries.

Marc Barber

Marc Barber

Marc was editor of GrowthBusiness from 2006 to 2010. He specialised in writing about entrepreneurs, private equity and venture capital, mid-market M&A, small caps and high-growth businesses.

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