Publicis Groupe acquires local PR Agency Genedigi

Beijing – Publicis Groupe  has officially acquired Genedigi Group(际恒集团) , one of China’s largest independent public relations and marketing communications agencies.

Genedigi will be aligned with MSLGROUP, and will maintain its current name and continue to operate under the leadership of its founder Xiao Jun(肖军) and his existing management team. Xiao will report to Glenn Osaki, President of MSLGROUP Asia. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1997, Genedigi Group employs 400 communications professionals across public relations, event marketing, digital marketing and an in-house market research center in three major cities.

Through this strategic development, MSLGROUP becomes one of the leading public relations networks in Greater China.

Genedigi is the latest in a series of China agency additions that includes Dreams (May 2011), Interactive Communications Ltd (ICL) (February 2011), and Eastwei Relations (November 2010).MSLGROUP Greater China now includes more than 650 staff across 11 offices in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

It is in line with Publicis Groupe’s strategy to increase its revenue derived from emerging markets to 30% over the next three years (from 22.7% in 2010), with China at its core and where Publicis Groupe has set an objective to double its size.

Jean-Yves Naouri, Publicis Groupe COO and Chairman of China Publicis Groupe, added that “China is a top strategic priority for us. I am particularly pleased with the addition of Genedigi, which will allow us to become a market leader in PR. It is yet another sign of our strong commitment to China. We will continue making significant investments across this promising market and we are on course to achieve our ambitious objectives, enabling us to offer best in class services to help our top multinational and Chinese clients as they grow in China, while significantly expanding our reach of Chinese cities and clients.”