• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, July 5, 2013

Ad holding company Dentsu plans to issue a new stock offering and sell additional shares of company-owned stock. The moves are designed to help pay off a loan it took earlier this year as part of the financing package it assembled to pay for its $4.8 billion acquisition of media specialist Aegis Group.

The new shares to be offered in both Japan and abroad haven’t been priced yet, but the company said it hoped to raise $1.2 billion to pay down part of a $2 billion short-term loan used to help pay for Aegis.

Dentsu said it expects to raise the money and apply it to the loan by September.

“Through this financing, Dentsu will further strengthen its financial base and increase its financial flexibility,” as it continues to implement a growth strategy for competing in the global ad market, the company stated.

Dentsu agreed to purchase London-based Aegis Group last summer as part of a long-term plan to bulk up its global offering. Prior to the Aegis deal, less than 20% of the company’s revenues came from outside Japan. Now, with Aegis in the portfolio, that figure has risen to 44%. Dentsu said its goal by 2017 is to have over half of its revenue derived from international operations. It completed the Aegis deal in March of this year.

Jerry Buhlmann, CEO of the Dentsu Aegis Network, which oversees the holding company’s operations outside Japan, just added the additional title of chief executive at the holding company. The firm said that Buhlmann is expected to help drive the company’s global growth strategy. He continues to report to Tim Andree, director and executive vice president, Dentsu Inc.

Word of the new stock offering follows by news that Dentsu was selling its marketing technology firm IgnitionOne in a management-led buyout. That transaction was backed by investment firms ABS Capital Partners and Persimmon Capital Partners. Terms weren’t disclosed.

IgnitionOne offers cloud-based services that include digital media optimization and cross-channel attribution. The IgnitionOne deal also includes audience targeting platform Netmining.  Executives on both sides of that deal said it was designed to unleash growth potential at IgnitionOne.

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