Dubai: The Middle East public relations firm Asda’a Burson-Marsteller is in talks to acquire two digital agencies in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, chief executive Sunil John told Gulf News recently.
The acquisitions, expected to finalise before the end of year, are being made to expand the operations of digital design affiliate Proof Integrated Communications, which Asda’a brought to the Middle East in 2014.
Headquartered in New York, Proof Integrated is owned by British multination communications firm WPP, which is also Asda’a’s majority owner. Proof provides social media management, digital marketing and website and app design services. John is also the chief executive of Proof in the Middle East.
The digital firms Asda’a is looking to acquire are “small to medium” in size, with each employing between 20 and 25 staff, John said in an interview at Asda’a offices in Dubai Media City. WPP still needs to complete due diligence but the deals are expected to be signed “hopefully by the end of the year”, he said.
Asda’a is also in talks for a North African public relations joint venture based out of Egypt where it, at present, has wholly owned operations, John said, adding that the deal is expected to be finalised in October. He did not however say who the agencies were or the value of the acquisitions.
He said he wants to triple the size of Proof, without saying how big the division currently is.
Proof’s regional clients include Abu Dhabi Financial Group (ADFG) and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), according to a 2014 press release announcing its expansion to the Middle East.
“The launch of proof has been hugely beneficial for our … top line revenue as well as our bottom line,” John said.
Asda’a has won a number of major regional government and private contracts in the past two years including in Saudi Arabia and the UAE despite a slowdown in the Gulf economies, John said.