Omnicom Group's Diversified Agency Services Acquires Leading Japanese Digital Medical Communications Agency MCI Signals continuing importance of the Japanese market TOKYO- Omnicom Group's Diversified Agency Services (DAS) today announced an agreement with ITOCHU Corporation ("ITOCHU") (TSE: 8001) and a number of venture capital funds to acquire a majority stake in Medical Collective Intelligence Co. Ltd. ("MCI"), a highly respected Japanese online medical communications agency. ITOCHU remains a shareholder and an important partner to grow and develop the business. Founded in 2007, MCI provides clients in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries with powerful online market research services, as well as innovative online CRM solutions. Combining the existing strengths of Omnicom's healthcare agencies with the digital capabilities of MCI significantly enhances Omnicom's overall client offering in Japan, making it the leading dedicated healthcare marketing group in Japan. "This acquisition is an important step in achieving Omnicom's strategy to expand and deepen our presence in key growth disciplines," said Dale Adams, CEO and President of DAS. "Meeting our clients' marketing communications needs in an ever changing market environment is our first and foremost goal. Operating in the world's second largest pharmaceutical market, MCI's digital CRM solutions and research are well positioned to capitalize on the fastest growing segment of the marketing communications sector, as clients increase spending on online, digital and interactive communications platforms." David Stark, President and CEO of DAS Healthcare Asia, said: "We admire Takenobu Senda's leadership and look forward to working with the talented and innovative team at MCI to help our pharmaceutical clients communicate more effectively and efficiently with physicians. The innovative digital platform offered by MCI provides some of the best technology in the field and has great potential to be rolled out to other markets, especially in Asia." "All of us at MCI are delighted to join Omnicom's healthcare portfolio. I am particularly looking forward to further extend our services throughout the Asia-Pacific region and help clients with our online market research and detailing solutions and to penetrate the large and diverse growth markets of China and India, as well as South East Asian countries. Together, we also see opportunities for our solutions in the significant healthcare markets in the U.S. and Europe," MCI Co-Founder and President Takenobu Senda commented. MCI will continue to operate as a stand-alone agency, working closely with its sister healthcare companies within Omnicom in Asia including Targis, AgencyRx Japan and Polaris Consumer Healthcare.