By Greg Hazley
Publicis Groupe has inked a deal to acquire 16-year-old Beijing-based PR agency Eastwei Relations, which will be folded into its MSLGroup division.
Eastwei, which works for Sony, IKEA and Porsche, among other clients, has 120 staffers across its Bejing base, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu.
Publicis has 3,700 staffers in 50 Chinese cities. MSLGroup CEO Olivier Fleurot said Eastwei will become a key hub for the PR unit in the Chinese market.
Johan Bjorksten, a media personality in China, is founder and chairman of Eastwei.
The deal is the latest in a series of acquisitions in the Asia region – including a move in India by Publicis earlier this year – by global PR agencies.
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