Publicis Groupe: Acquisition of Lighthouse Digital

02/25/14
PRESS RELEASE

PUBLICIS GROUPE ACQUIRES LIGHTHOUSE DIGITAL,
DIGITAL MEDIA AGENCY
IN SOUTH AFRICA

Publicis Groupe [EURONEXT Paris: FR0000130577] today announces the acquisition of Lighthouse Digital, a preeminent digital media agency to be aligned with Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) in South Africa.

Lighthouse is an established leader in the use of advanced social analytics tools and was the first agency in Africa to provide clients with a proprietary real-time reporting dashboard. The agency also specializes in the use of automated bid management tools for paid search and programmatic media buying in South Africa.

Lighthouse Digital was founded in 2009 by Aaron van Schaik and Steven Waidelich, with a focus on digital media. Since then, the agency has grown to become the largest digital media agency in Africa with a team of 30 digital media experts across its offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Lighthouse Digital works with both local and international clients such as Microsoft, SABMiller, Mastercard, General Motors, South African Tourism, Cathay Pacific, Investec, HTC, First National Bank and Vodacom.

To date, Lighthouse has run campaigns in over 14 countries throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. The agency has garnered a number of awards including Bookmarks Award for Best Media Campaign 2013 and Assegai Best Mobile Media Campaign 2012.

The agency will be rebranded as SMG Lighthouse. Aaron van Schaik, CEO of Lighthouse Digital, will become CEO of the new entity and will report to Iain Jacob, President of Dynamic Markets for SMG, with Steven Waidelich taking on the role of Digital Operations Director of SMG.

"We are in growth mode in South Africa, recognizing its importance as a market and a hub for the entire continent. With this acquisition of Lighthouse Digital, SMG in South Africa will become a stronger, wholly integrated agency with digital at its core. In this way, we're far ahead of the market and poised to offer our clients innovative and future-forward work, ahead of our competitors. I welcome Aaron to SMG, and look forward to working with him closely," said Iain Jacob.

"Starcom MediaVest Group has a solid reputation in Africa and around the world for providing top notch media services to their clients, and it's a pleasure to be joining the SMG family. Aligning with SMG gives us global scale and a more powerful face to the market which we can leverage to constantly improve our offering and give our clients the tools and solutions they won't get anywhere else," added Aaron van Schaik.

SMG South Africa includes agencies such as LiquidThread and Starcom Johannesburg and will count over 80 employees after the addition of SMG Lighthouse. The network continues to grow its presence in the market, with recently added clients such as Mondelez, Etisalat and S-Mobile. This news follows that of other recent acquisitions by Publicis Groupe in South Africa, including Synergize into Saatchi & Saatchi South Africa in December 2013 and AML into ZenithOptimedia South Africa in January 2014, fortifying the Groupe's leading digital marketing and communications services in the region.

About Publicis Groupe
Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, CAC 40] is one of the world's leading communications groups. The Groupe offers a full range of services and skills: digital (DigitasLBi, Razorfish, Rosetta, VivaKi), advertising (BBH, Leo Burnett, Publicis Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi), public affairs, corporate communications and events (MSLGROUP), media strategy, planning and buying (Starcom MediaVest Group and ZenithOptimedia), healthcare communications, with Publicis Healthcare Communications Group (PHCG), and finally, brand asset production with Prodigious. Present in 108 countries, the Groupe employs 62,000 professionals.
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About Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG)
Starcom MediaVest Group is the Human Experience Company. We believe experiences matter. They enhance lives and build brands. We bring brand experiences to life through SMG's three global award winning agency brands: MediaVest, Starcom and Spark. Ranked the number one global media network in billings in the world by RECMA, SMG (www.smvgroup.com) encompasses an integrated network of human experience strategists, investment specialists, content creators and digital & technology experts. With over 7,800 employees in 110 offices worldwide, SMG partners with the world's leading companies including The Coca-Cola Company, Kraft Foods, P&G, Samsung, Walmart, among others. In 2013, SMG was named Festival of Media Global Network of the Year. SMG is part of Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, CAC 40], one of the world's leading communications groups.

ContactsPublicis GroupePeggy NahmanyCorporate Communications+ 33 (0)1 44 43 72 83Martine HueInvestor Relations+ 33 (0)1 44 43 65 00Stéphanie ConstandInvestor Relations+ 33 (0)1 44 43 74 44Starcom MediaVest GroupLauren HurvitzCorporate Communications+1 (212) 468- 3045Ashok SinhaCorporate Communications+1 (646) 557- 7229

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Source: Publicis Groupe via Globenewswire
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