• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, November 2, 2011

Publicis Groupe has acquired Chinese digital agency Wangfan, the agency holding company confirmed today. The digital shop has been growing revenues at a double-digit clip for the past several years, and Publicis said the acquisition was part of its strategy to double its size in the Chinese market between 2010 and 2012.

Indeed, all of the holding companies are expanding their holdings throughout Asia, home to many of the world’s faster-growing ad economies. Earlier this week, Omnicom made its latest foray into the region, acquiring a majority stake in India’s Mudra Group, one of the country’s larger agency networks.

Wangfan is the fourth Chinese agency that Publicis has acquired this year and the fifth in the last 12 months. The company said China was one of eleven countries where its organic growth hit double digits in the first half of 2011.

In China alone, ad expenditures grew 25% last year, according to ZenithOptimedia, the Publicis agency network.  Further double-digit growth is expected through 2013, driven by Internet advertising, which is expected to account for 25% of media expenditures in China by then.

Publicis said that Wangfan would be rebranded to become part of Publicis Modem Shanghai. And Bill Wang, CEO of the acquired shop, has been named managing director of Publicis Modem Shanghai, the digital arm of Publicis Shanghai.

Wangfan, with a staff of 61, specializes in interactive creative campaigns, Web branding and Web site conception and design. Its revenues were up nearly 20% in 2010, and are predicted to be up another 16% in 2011, according to Publicis. Clients include Puma, Shanghai General Motors and other international and Chinese companies.

Commenting on the acquisition, Jean-Yves Naouri, Publicis Groupe’s chief operating officer and chairman of China Publicis Groupe, stated, “China is a core priority for us. It’s a market where we aim to be perceived as essential interlocutors.”