• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, August 4, 2011

WPP has made another strategic move in the Asia-Pacific region, acquiring Campaigns & Grey in the Philippines, said to be one of the country's leading shops.

The acquisition was made through the holding company's Grey Advertising unit, which has had a stake in the agency since 1994. The deal will give WPP a controlling stake in the firm. Terms were not disclosed.

WPP CEO Martin Sorrell has made increasing the firm's footprint in Asia a priority. Indeed, most of the major ad holding companies are aggressively pursuing expansion plans in the Asia-Pacific region, which has one of the faster-growing ad economies, according to recent forecasts.

ZenithOptimedia recently predicted that the region's ad expenditures would grow 6% to $123 billion this year and zoom another 8% in 2011 to $133 billion. Of note, the Philippines is in double-digit growth mode. According to RECMA, media billings in the country grew 23% to more than $1.2 billion in 2010.

On the A-PAC acquisitions front, just last month, Paris-based Havas acquired a majority stake in Host, Australia's largest independent ad agency. At around the same time, competing holding company Aegis bought part of TigerSpike, the mobile tech firm based in Sydney.

C&G has a blue-chip roster of clients, including global package-goods behemoth Procter & Gamble, drug marketers GlaxoSmithKline and Boehringer Ingelheim and Sara Lee.

The 25-year-old full-service shop is based in Manila, and touts as a particular strength its strategic planning practice, as well as advertising, digital marketing, activation, PR and advocacy communications.

Collectively, WPP said it employs more than 40,000 people in the Asia-Pacific region, generating revenues upwards of $4 billion. In the Philippines, the Group employs nearly 1,000 people with revenues of $60 million. C&G adds nearly another 100 staff and $6 million more in revenue.