WPP share price rises on string of acquisitions

British advertising and marketing giant WPP Plc (LON:WPP) said in a statement today that Kantar Media, its data management business, had agreed to acquire the entire issued share capital of Fisheye Analytics for an undisclosed sum.

Fisheye is a Singapore-based monitoring and analytics company, which works with some of the biggest sports governing bodies, international organisations and governments from Europe to Asia. Fisheye, which made S$782,871 in revenue for the year ending October 31, 2013, is the latest in a string of WPP acquisitions aimed at developing its networks in fast-growth markets and sectors.

Last Monday, WPP announced that its marketing technology subsidiary, 24/7 Media, acquired semantic adverts provider Crystal Semantics – just one week after 24/7 Media merged with WPP’s Xaxis. WPP said in a statement: “This investment continues WPP’s strategy of strengthening the Group’s capabilities in digital media and in mobile advertising.”

Just a day after purchasing Crystal Semantics, WPP acquired another social media marketing specialist. The advertising giant revealed that it had agreed to buy a majority stake in Asian social media marketing business Volcanic, via WPP’s subsidiary GroupM. No financial terms were disclosed, but it was revealed that Volcanic had sales in the region of £2 million last year, and assets of around £1 million.

On Thursday, WPP said that it had acquired a majority stake in social marketing agency Social Lab via its wholly-owned marketing communications network Oglivy & Mather. Social Lab, which is based in Belgium, posted revenues of €3.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2012. The advertising giant did not provide financial details of this deal, either.