There is a lot of talk about the "pending" and "likely" sale of Synovate by Aegis media to Ipsos. On 29 June, it was announced that Ipsos was in exclusive talks with Aegis to buy Synovate for around US$815 million (GBP 500 million). Last year, Synovate posted an operating profit of US$74 million.
This looks like a smart move by Aegis. The synergy between Aegis, Carat and Synovate was, frankly, a little lacking. Aegis being more a pure media agency, it would make sense for Synovate to leave a media group where market research is not their primary focus and for them to join a market research group.
For those paying attention, Aegis have been pretty active in Asia. Recently making a purchase of a digital advertising agency in Japan. With an extra $800 million, this surely means Aegis will start doing a lot more acquisitions - unless they want to become a take-over target themselves! But I know that Aegis is trying to build something a little new, and do things that other media agencies are not doing in the market. With the line between digital media agencies responsibilities and digital advertising agencies blurring, a great opportunity is in front of a cash heavy group to make some great digital agency purchases in multiple markets around Asia! Should be a fun ride over the next two years.
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