"We have been doing it (PR and events) but not whole-heartedly," said Carat's North Asia CEO, Thomas Wong. "Now with this company we can offer it whole-heartedly."
The move underlines Carat's progression away from traditional media services, Wong added, with further acquisitions likely in the region, dependent on the needs of individual markets.
The move underlines Carat's progression away from traditional media services, Wong added, with further acquisitions likely in the region, dependent on the needs of individual markets.
"Every consumer touchpoint is part of media," he said. "We are moving from a media to a channel planning agency."
New Voice joins other sister companies to Carat China, which offer interactive, out of home and programme content services, Wong added. PR veteran Niuniu Chen set up New Voice in 2001, with the company gaining a roster of clients that includes Citic Square and Tom.com. The shop's business is currently mostly focused around Shanghai, though it also has an office in Beijing. Wong said that moves are afoot to develop operations to support Carat clients outside Shanghai, with "substantial hiring" planned to boost operations.
Aegis initially bought a 70 per cent share in New Voice, with an option to acquire the rest of the company from 2012.
The company agreed to pay up to US$10 million for the 70 per cent stake, payable over the next two years and partly dependent on New Voice meeting what Aegis terms "rigorous" performance criteria.
A maximum price of around $5.8 million has been set for the remaining 30 per cent, again dependent on company performance.
"New Voice is an established company with a good reputation," said Aegis chief executive officer Robert Lerwill. "The marketing and communications sector in China is growing at over 20 per cent a year and this partnership will allow us to provide a complementary service to our client base."