Lee Hyo-sik is Finance Desk editor at The Korea Times. He manages finance-related stories on macroeconomics, banks, stocks, bonds, crypto etc. He is passionate about covering what's happening in Korea's financial industry and explaining it to both Korean and non-Korean readers. You can reach him at leehs@koreatimes.co.kr. Your insights and feedbacks are always appreciated.
Cheil acquires US advertizing firm
By Lee Hyo-sik
Cheil Worldwide, the country’s largest marketing firm and an affiliate of the Samsung Group, said Tuesday that it had acquired a mid-sized U.S. advertizing firm based in North Carolina in a bid to strengthen its presence in the world’s largest advertizing market.
The company said its U.S. unit, Cheil USA, took over a 100-pecent stake in McKinney Communications. However, it did not disclose the acquisition price and other financial terms.
Cheil said McKinney will become an essential part of Cheil, stressing that it will soon emerge as one of the global top 10 corporate marketers.
McKinney, founded in 1969, has been named by the U.S. advertizing industry as one of top mid-sized corporate marketers, according to Cheil. It has been responsible for the global marketing of many multinational firms, including Nike and Sony, over the years. In 2011, the U.S. firm earned $37 million.
After signing a takeover agreement with Brad Brinegar, CEO of McKinney Communications, in North Carolina Monday, Kim Nack-hoi, CEO of Cheil Worldwide, said his firm will further strengthen partnerships with other foreign companies it has acquired over the past few years.
``Through our strengthened partnerships with our affiliates, Cheil will offer advertisers across the world a more upgraded, comprehensive corporate marketing services,’’ Kim said. ``We will continue to expand our global business.’’
Cheil currently ranks 16th in the world and operates 50 offices in 28 countries. Lee Seo-hyun, the younger daughter of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee, is vice president of Cheil.
``All major Korean marketing firms have established a foothold abroad over the years in a bid to find new growth engines. To boost our overseas operations, we decided to take over McKinney because the United States is the world’s largest advertising market,’’ a spokesman for Cheil Worldwide said.
The spokesman said the company will continue to boost its global business to secure new corporate clients, adding it will seek to take over more advertizing firms in the future.
Cheil has been aggressively expanding its reach abroad over the past few years, acquiring British advertising agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay in 2008 and U.S. firm Barbarian Group in 2009.