Earlier this March Japanese multinational media and digital marketingcommunications firm, Dentsu Aegis Network, signed an agreement toacquire a stake in Emerald Co. Ltd, a leading full service digitalmarketing agency in Vietnam.
Following the deal, the HCMCity-based Emerald will become a company within Dentsu Aegis Network'sglobal digital marketing agency Isobar, and be known as "Emerald-Linkedby Isobar".
The M&A deal was not the first in the Vietnam PR sector, only the first of the year.
Thesector has seen many huge M&A deals by foreign companies, but theywere not spoken as widely as the deals cases in other sectors.
Forinstance, in 2009 WPP - one of the world's largest communicationsservices groups — announced that Ogilvy& Mather, one of its members,had acquired a majority stake in T&A Communications, a leadingpublic relations and event management company in Vietnam.
Thedeal was part of VPP's strategy to develop its networks in fast-growingmarkets and sectors. Vietnam was a logical choice since it was one ofthe fastest growing markets in the world.
In 2008 WPP'ssubsidiary GroupM had bought a 30 percent stake in the Dat Viet GroupVAC. WPP is also the largest partner of Smart Media JSC, a companyfounded by CNPT, Vietnam Television, Mobifone, VNPost and Goldsun.
Accordingto VietNam Briefing Website, also in 2008 the Omnicom Group of the UShad taken over three of the top 10 Vietnamese companies.
Itbought BCI Brandcare, followed by the purchase of Biz Solutions byOmnicom subsidiary TBWA Group to establish the Biz Tequila jointventure.
TBWA also bought XPR Campaigns and established CampaignSolutions, which has emerged as one of the top international agencies inVietnam.
In 2012 the world's largest PR firm Edelman bought AVC Communication and created AVC Edelman.
RichardEdelman, the president and CEO of Edelman, was quoted in the media assaying that multinational corporations operating in Vietnam had soughttheir services and a merger with a local firm had proved to be thequickest way to enter the market.
Now — and this trend is sure tocontinue — foreign PR groups continue to eye with interest Vietnamesecompanies with internet- and digital-based operations.
The PRindustry has around 200 wholly Vietnamese-owned companies, all of whichare struggling in the face of foreign competition.
According toanalysts, foreign PR companies want to buy Vietnamese companies notbecause they want to do business here like they used to do in the pastsince foreigners are now allowed to set up wholly-foreign-ownedcompanies.
But instead, they want to acquire Vietnamese companies to access the latter's experience and relationships.
VietnamesePR companies want to join hands with foreign partners since theyrealise that many Vietnamese firms want to extend their business tooverseas markets and would need their PR services there.-VNA
Following the deal, the HCMCity-based Emerald will become a company within Dentsu Aegis Network'sglobal digital marketing agency Isobar, and be known as "Emerald-Linkedby Isobar".
The M&A deal was not the first in the Vietnam PR sector, only the first of the year.
Thesector has seen many huge M&A deals by foreign companies, but theywere not spoken as widely as the deals cases in other sectors.
Forinstance, in 2009 WPP - one of the world's largest communicationsservices groups — announced that Ogilvy& Mather, one of its members,had acquired a majority stake in T&A Communications, a leadingpublic relations and event management company in Vietnam.
Thedeal was part of VPP's strategy to develop its networks in fast-growingmarkets and sectors. Vietnam was a logical choice since it was one ofthe fastest growing markets in the world.
In 2008 WPP'ssubsidiary GroupM had bought a 30 percent stake in the Dat Viet GroupVAC. WPP is also the largest partner of Smart Media JSC, a companyfounded by CNPT, Vietnam Television, Mobifone, VNPost and Goldsun.
Accordingto VietNam Briefing Website, also in 2008 the Omnicom Group of the UShad taken over three of the top 10 Vietnamese companies.
Itbought BCI Brandcare, followed by the purchase of Biz Solutions byOmnicom subsidiary TBWA Group to establish the Biz Tequila jointventure.
TBWA also bought XPR Campaigns and established CampaignSolutions, which has emerged as one of the top international agencies inVietnam.
In 2012 the world's largest PR firm Edelman bought AVC Communication and created AVC Edelman.
RichardEdelman, the president and CEO of Edelman, was quoted in the media assaying that multinational corporations operating in Vietnam had soughttheir services and a merger with a local firm had proved to be thequickest way to enter the market.
Now — and this trend is sure tocontinue — foreign PR groups continue to eye with interest Vietnamesecompanies with internet- and digital-based operations.
The PRindustry has around 200 wholly Vietnamese-owned companies, all of whichare struggling in the face of foreign competition.
According toanalysts, foreign PR companies want to buy Vietnamese companies notbecause they want to do business here like they used to do in the pastsince foreigners are now allowed to set up wholly-foreign-ownedcompanies.
But instead, they want to acquire Vietnamese companies to access the latter's experience and relationships.
VietnamesePR companies want to join hands with foreign partners since theyrealise that many Vietnamese firms want to extend their business tooverseas markets and would need their PR services there.-VNA
