• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, February 1, 2011

Adding to its U.S. holdings, Dentsu Network West on Tuesday announced the acquisition of New York-based digital shop Firstborn. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"This acquisition supports ... our efforts to place digital at the heart of our growth strategy," said Tim Andree, CEO of Dentsu Network West and Executive Officer at Japanese agency holding company Dentsu.

Founded in 1997, Firstborn currently boasts 65 digital designers, producers, "technologists" and agency strategists. Under Dentsu, the agency will continue to operate under founder and CEO Michael Ferdman, along with President Dan LaCivita and Chief Creative Officer Joon Yong Park.

According to Ferdman, Firstborn has fended off buyout offers for years, but Dentsu's offer presented the right mix of flexibility and autonomy. "For years, Firstborn has had a lot of outside interest, but it wasn't until now that a partnership made sense for both parties," he said.

Working with revered agency partners like Droga5, Wunderman and Ogilvy, Firstborn has recently earned plaudits from such clients as Aflac, SoBe, and Ford Mustang.

Firstborn maintains all of its services in-house, including live-action video production and post-production; 3D and motion graphics; R&D practices; creative direction and design; digital strategy and planning; and front-end development and software engineering.

Along with Firstborn, the U.S. divisions of Dentsu have pursued aggressive strategies of expansion through acquisition. Early last year, Dentsu Holdings USA acquired Innovation Interactive LLC, the New York-based parent of interactive agencies specializing in search, social media and audience targeting, including 360i, SearchIgnite and Netmining.

In recent years, other domestic acquisitions included creative shops, such as ATTIK and mcgarrybowen, which now complement Dentsu-branded offices throughout the Americas and Europe.