• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, September 11, 2007

Investing further in new media strategies, WPP has acquired Schematic, a Los Angeles-based full-service digital agency with a client roster full of media and entertainment leaders. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Schematic, which late last year was hired by the UK's ITV to design its video-on-demand site and media player, also regularly works with ABC, NBC Universal, MTV, CNN, Comcast, Time Warner and Turner.

The eight-year-old agency had revenues for the year ending March 31 of $29.6 million, with gross assets of $8 million.

In addition to its Los Angeles headquarters, Schematic has offices in New York, Boston, Atlanta and San Jose, Costa Rica, and employs 255 people. Founded in 1999, Schematic's know-how extends to all digital platforms--including the Web, interactive television, mobile devices and digital environments. Other clients include Coca-Cola, CondeNast, Nokia, Panasonic, SanDisk, and Target.

Schematic is the latest in a string of digital acquisitions for WPP. This summer, its G2 Worldwide unit acquired independent digital shop Refinery, which generated revenue of $21 million last year, and whose clients include Merck, Campbell's and Merrill Lynch.

Also this summer, G2 acquired Star Echo, a China-based agency offering activation marketing throughout that region. Other recent grabs include MDS Boole, a data and metrics consultancy in Spain.

Industrywide, independent ad agencies have become a rare breed. Publicis Groupe arguably sounded the death knell in December with its agreement to buy online and direct marketing shop Digitas. And this year, in response to Google's plan to buy DoubleClick, Microsoft agreed to take Avenue A|Razorfish off the market with its planned acquisition of aQuantive.

Behind only Aegis Group, WPP's GroupM Interaction is the second-largest digital network holding company--with 1,224 digital staffers worldwide, 619 of whom are stationed stateside--according to agency billings researcher RECMA.