Korea's Adventure close to JWT deal

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

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