• September 15, 2003

Aegis Group plc, parent company of media buying company Carat, Monday said it will acquire Censydiam Group, a Belgium research business. The purchase price is 6.5 million Euros ($7.3 million) in cash and deferred consideration and possibly up to more 2.25 million Euros ($2.5 million). Censydiam was founded in 1987 and works in consumer motivation research with consumer packaged goods clients and others including Coca-Cola, Heineken, Volvo, Nokia, Interbrew and Unilever. Censydiam has subsidiaries in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, France, the UK, U.S. and Hong Kong. Censydiam had revenues of 15.7 million Euros ($19.7 million) in 2002. Aegis CEO Douglas Flynn said: "The acquisition of Censydiam not only strengthens further Synovate's position in Europe but also brings with it a deep expertise of the consumer packaged goods sector and a number of world-class tools that will be rolled-out throughout Synovate's international research network."