Korea's Adventure close to JWT deal

<p>JWT Korea is in the final stage of talks to purchase control of South </p><p>Korea's 10th largest agency, Adventure Worldwide, billing about 85 </p><p>billion won, according to South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Adventure is jointly owned by three large Korean advertisers, Maeil </p><p>Dairy, Hite Brewery Co (Korea's number two brewer and partially owned by </p><p>Carlsberg), and Aekyung Industrial (a manufacturer of cosmetics, </p><p>detergents, and personal care products). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>As part of the deal, the three advertisers are expected to retain a </p><p>minority shareholding in the agency, maintain their business with it, </p><p>and guarantee a minimum billings figure for some years. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Assuming the deal goes through, JWT is expected to operate Adventure as </p><p>a separate agency rather than merge it with JWT Korea, agency sources </p><p>said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>JWT representatives declined to comment on the reports. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The deal would help WPP overtake Interpublic (McCann ranks about 14th) </p><p>and catch up with Omnicom, which - following a series of recent </p><p>acquisitions - is now the second largest foreign agency group in South </p><p>Korea after Cordiant. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>