Dentsu Inc. Reaches Agreement to Acquire 100% of Shares in Taiwan's Leading Digital Marketing Agency
WIS Inc.
Dentsu Aegis Network, the overseas headquarters of Dentsu Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Nao Ishii; Capital: ¥74,609,810,000), has reached an agreement with the shareholders of WIS Performance Media Inc. (Headquarters: Taipei City; hereinafter "WIS") to acquire 100% of its shares.
Established in 2005, WIS has grown rapidly by providing performance marketing services to meet the needs of small and medium-sized businesses, which account for approximately 60% of Taiwan's SEM market. With 100 employees, WIS holds "Authorized Reseller Status" *1, granting it the right to sell advertising space on the top two search engine companies in Taiwan. It provides digital marketing services to approximately 1,500 companies across various industries. WIS is also a Google Analytics Partner.
Following the share acquisition, we will merge WIS with our Taiwan office of iProspect, one of our nine global network brands. The addition of WIS will further strengthen our business foundation as the leading advertising group in Taiwan and double the business scale of iProspect Taiwan, which excels in performance marketing.
Moving forward, WIS will operate under the brand name "iProspect WIS" and accelerate its growth strategy in Taiwan's digital domain while collaborating with other group companies.
According to global advertising expenditure growth forecasts (March 2016) by Carat, our group's media communications agency, Taiwan's digital advertising expenditure in 2015 increased by 15.0% year-on-year. Double-digit growth (13.7% increase each year) is projected to continue in 2016 and 2017.
The impact of this transaction on the Group's consolidated results for the fiscal year ending December 2016 is expected to be immaterial.
※1 A business model unique to Taiwan where an intermediary acts between advertisers and search engine companies, purchasing media on behalf of advertisers.
※2 Dentsu Inc. Aegis Network (London), which oversees Dentsu Inc. overseas operations, conducts business globally centered around nine global network brands. These nine brands are Carat, Dentsu (Dentsu Brand Agencies), Dentsu media, iProspect, Isobar, mcgarrybowen, MKTG, Posterscope, and Vizeum.
【WIS Company Overview】
Company Name: WIS Performance Media Inc.
Headquarters: Taipei, Taiwan
Established: August 2005
Shareholder Structure: After share acquisition, Dentsu Inc. Aegis Network 100%
Revenue: NT$112 million (approx. ¥360 million) (Fiscal Year Ending December 2015)
Representative: Simon Wu (Founder and CEO)
Fay Lo (Vice President)
David Lee (Business Director, Overseas Business Development)
Number of Employees: 100
Business Description: Provides comprehensive digital marketing services
