WPP Doubles Down On Digital, Buys Leading Agency AKQA At $550M Valuation

WPP today has announced a major development in its strategy to have 40 percent of its business coming from digital in the next five years: it is buying AKQA, one of the biggest -- and independent -- digital agencies around. WPP says that AKQA will continue to operate as an independent agency, and its current chairman will also head up a new investment arm, WPP Ventures, to back more digital marketing startups. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed in the release, but the Guardian is reporting that this is actually a majority stake that values the company at ?350 million ($550 million). AKQA had assets totaling $282 million as of December 31, 2011, and projects revenues of $282 million for 2012, ?some $100 million more than its $189 million in sales in 2011. It employs 1,160 people across offices in San?Francisco, New York, Washington DC, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and Shanghai.

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