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Dentsu, Inc. (President & CEO: Tadashi Ishii; Head Office: Tokyo; Capital: 74,609.81 million yen) announced today that its global business headquarters Dentsu Aegis Network Ltd has reached an agreement with the principal shareholders of Soap Creative Pty Ltd (Head Office: Sydney; hereinafter “Soap Creative”), a leading digital creative agency in Australia, to acquire a 51% stake in the company with options in place that would allow expansion to 100% shareholding at a later date.
Founded in 2002, Soap Creative is a one-stop, full-service agency offering a diverse range of services, apart from media planning and buying, that include the strategic planning of social media, mobile, and other digital marketing as well as the production of digital advertising creative and web content. A multi-award-winning agency that is highly regarded for its creativity, Soap Creative was named “Agency of the Year in Mobile” (The Smarties™ APAC) and “Interactive Agency of the Year” (B&T Awards) in 2013, and won the Ad News “Agency of the Year” award three years in a row. Meanwhile, Soap Creative’s wholly owned subsidiary Soap Mobile Games Studio Pty Ltd, which was established in Sydney in 2013, develops mobile games that lead to the success of client campaigns.
Post-acquisition, Soap Creative will become part of Isobar, one of the Dentsu Group’s global network brands (dentsu.co.jp), and will be referred to as “Soap Linked by Isobar.” In collaboration with the other Group companies that are expanding their presence in the Australian market, Soap will continue to provide integrated and innovative solutions.
In its September 2014 worldwide advertising expenditure forecasts, the Group’s media communications agency Carat announced that digital ad spending in Australia grew 19.3% in 2013, and predicted a growth rate of 16.0% for 2014 and 11.0% for 2015 respectively, both greatly exceeding the overall market growth rate (around 1%).
The impact of this transaction on Dentsu’s consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2015 is expected to be minimal.
Profile of Soap Creative
Company Name: Soap Creative Pty Ltd
Location: Sydney, Australia
Date of Establishment: March 2002
Shareholding Ratio*: Dentsu Aegis Network 51%, Soap Creative management 49%, *After acquisition has been completed
Gross Profit: AUD 6,750, 000 (year ended June 2014), (The fiscal year-end will be changed to December after the acquisition has been completed)
Key Management Personnel: Ashley Ringrose (Director and Owner), Bradley Eldridge (Director and Owner)
Number of Employees: 50
Line of Business: One-stop, full-service agency providing services in the digital marketing domain.
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