Cheil Worldwide, South Korea's largest ad agency by sales, bought a 49% share in London creative agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay as part of its push to expand globally. Cheil didn't disclose how much it paid for its stake in BMB, but said the deal is its largest acquisition to date.
The pact comes just weeks after advance talks between Omnicom Group's TBWA Worldwide and BMB fell apart. BMB was founded in 2005 by three former executives from the London office of TBWA, including adman Trevor Beattie.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122818507785771305.html?mod=dist_smartbrief
Cheil already has offices in 29 countries but has long sought to increase its clientele beyond Korean companies such as Samsung Electronics, for which it is the global agency of record. Samsung Corp., another part of the Samsung group, owns nearly 13% of the ad firm.
