• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, March 29, 2022

Havas has acquired China-based independent agency Front Networks for an undisclosed sum.

The agency focuses on creative social and digital marketing in China. Havas said the agency would be aligned with its Havas Creative network.

Front Networks has two offices--in Beijing and Shanghai--with a team of more than 200 people. Founded in 2004 by Felix Teng it has more than 200 international clients across automotive, finance, sports, software, home appliances, and other sectors. Teng will continue to run the agency under Havas ownership.

Clients include BMW, Rolls-Royce, Vivo, Microsoft, Columbia, Casarte, Bank of China and Nestlé.

Yannick Bolloré, Chairman and CEO Havas Group, commented, “China has always been of strategic importance to us…[and} is evolving and diversifying at a rapid pace, presenting us with many opportunities for growth.”

Teng added that with the sale to Havas the agency “will be able to extend our solutions and add scale to the depth of our services.”

Havas Group’s presence in China is anchored by a strategic joint venture it entered into five years ago with Guangdong Advertising Group Co., then billed as China’s leading advertising company and largest local marketing & communications group with upwards of 500 people across 11 major cities in China.

The alliance gave Havas Group ownership of 51% of the resulting Havas GIMC Advertising Co., Ltd. which is headquartered in Shanghai. The companies said that combining their strengths enabled Havas to take advantage of GIMC’s media buying clout across the country while providing GIMC with the ability to leverage creativity and other expertise and tools from Havas.

The Front Networks deal is the latest in a string of M&A deals Havas Group has already made this year. Earlier in March it acquired a majority stake in performance marketing agency Frontier Australia. In February it acquired London-based CX specialist Inviqa. And in January it acquired control of Spanish PR agency Tinkle.