Publicis Groupe weighs bid for 30% of Cheil Worldwide

The stake would make Publicis the Korean company's largest stakeholder.

Cheil work for Samsung
Cheil work for Samsung

Publicis Groupe is reportedly considering a bid for a controlling stake in Cheil Worldwide.

The company is mulling an offer to take a 30 percent stake in Seoul-based Cheil Worldwide, a report in Bloomberg has said.

The stake would make it the company’s largest stakeholder. Cheil began as Samsung's in-house agency. Samsung currently owns around 25 percent of the agency. 

A Publicis Groupe spokeswoman said, "We do not comment on rumours." Cheil Worldwide could not be reached for comment. 

In November, Samsung Electronics consolidated its media planning and buying into Starcom Mediavest Group.

Samsung is also a top five client of Publicis Groupe's Leo Burnett and Digitas LBi.

"Cheil’s fortunes are so closely tied to Samsung’s, so the last two years have been challenging for them," Greg Paull, principal at R3, told Campaign Asia-Pacific. "With over 1,000 people in China, they have built their strongest office outside of Korea, but Samsung have been hit from Xiaomi, Vivo ZTE and other local brands. Investments in Korean and Japanese agencies have historically been difficult for foreign holding groups. Time will tell whether this becomes the first successful case study."

Source:
Campaign UK

Related Articles

Just Published

1 day ago

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on using AI to win over ...

The e-commerce giant’s CEO revealed fresh insights into the company's future plans on all things consumer behaviour, AI, Amazon Ads and Prime Video.

1 day ago

James Hawkins steps down as PHD APAC CEO

Hawkins leaves PHD after close to six years leading the agency, and there will be no immediate replacement for him.

1 day ago

Formula 1 Shanghai: A watershed event for brand ...

With Shanghai native Zhou Guanyu in the race, this could be the kickoff to even more fierce positioning among Chinese brands.

1 day ago

Whalar Group appoints Neil Waller and James Street ...

EXCLUSIVE: The duo will lead six business pillars and attempt to win more creative, not just creator, briefs with the hire of Christoph Becker as chief creative officer.