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WPP: Inorganic Growth on Track, Set to Expand in Europe

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Grey, a subsidiary of WPP plc , recently announced that it intends to acquire majority stake in Bruketa&Zinic OM.

Founded in 1995, Bruketa&Zinic is an internationally renowned small advertising agency, which comprises approximately 60 employees and serves premier clients such as Heineken, VIPnet, The Coca-Cola Company (KO - Free Report) , Croatia Insurance, Addiko Bank and Adris Group.

WPP’s subsidiary, Grey Zagreb, will merge into Bruketa&Zinic.  Following the merger, the unit will be known as Bruketa&Zinic&Grey and all agencies under Grey will be rebranded. Bruketa&Zinic will have access to Grey’s clients worldwide. This deal will help WPP expand its capabilities and strengthen its foothold in the region.

Per a market report by PWC, total global advertising revenue is expected to rise at a CAGR of 4.7% by 2019. Global digital advertising revenues will rise at a CAGR of 12.2% against just 1.2% for non-digital advertising. Based on this report, we expect the collaboration to boost WPP’s revenues.  

On Mar 14, Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide, one of the operating units of WPP, formed a strategic technology partnership with Demandbase, a premier San Francisco-based marketing software company. This collaboration will enable Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide to offer a comprehensive solution spanning both the customer relationship management and electronic health record verticals. The partnership is likely to yield higher revenues with targeted content and focused customer reach.

WPP has underperformed the Zacks categorized Advertising and Marketing industry in the last three months as macroeconomic slowdown and geopolitical issues have a direct impact on client spending. The company recorded an average loss of 4.7% in the last three months compared with a 2% decline of the industry.

Grey is one of the 10 largest advertising agencies in the world, with offices across 83 countries. The agency provides highly creative services, including brand ideas and strategies, brand planning, creative development and production. The company functions across four geographical units, namely North America, Europe, the Middle East & Africa (EMEA), Asia Pacific and Latin America.

WPP carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A couple of better-ranked stocks in the same space include CRA International, Inc. (CRAI - Free Report) and TransUnion (TRU - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

CRA International has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 8% and is currently trading at a forward P/E of 25x.

TransUnion has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 12.8%. It has beaten estimates in each of the trailing four quarters with an average positive earnings surprise of 13.6%.

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