Media conglomerate WPP has invested $70m (£43m) in IT services provider Globant in exchange for a 20% stake in the Buenos Aires company.

According to MediaWeek:
WPP claimed Globant was "unique" in that "it provides clients with both the infrastructure and technical support that drive digital marketing campaigns, combined with the creative and design skills usually found alone in digital agencies."
The move is perhaps not such a surprise as Globant already works with WPP client American Express, as well as WPP agencies JWT, Young & Rubicam, Grey, GroupM and Kantar. Other high-profile clientèle include JP Morgan Chase, Coca-Cola, Google, Electronic Arts, Zynga and LinkedIn.


Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP, said:  "Increasingly, clients want better coordination between their IT departments and their marketing departments, between their Chief Information Officers (CIOs)  and their Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs). There are many consulting companies or digital agencies that are expert in one function or the other. Few, if any, do both and even fewer can integrate deep technical and creative capabilities on a global scale as Globant does. Partnering with Globant will allow our companies to increasingly provide our clients with insights and skills that will make their digital marketing efforts even more effective and simpler to manage at both the front and back ends."


PR Newswire offered this insight into WPP's acquisition strategy:

This transaction also continues WPP's strategy of investing in fast growing geographic markets, which also currently represent one-third of revenues, with a similar objective to reach 35-40% over the next five years and reflects its commitment to developing its strategic networks throughout Latin America. WPP regards this decade as very much the decade of Latin America, particularly with the FIFA World Cup taking place in Brazil in 2014 and the Olympics in Rio in 2016.