WPP to Buy Vietnam Digital Agency

WPP is to acquire Vietnamese digital agency Who Digital, which employs 25 people in Ho Chi Minh City.

Under terms of the agreement, WPP will have a majority interest in a new joint venture between Who Digital and OgilvyOne in Vietnam. The acquisition is the latest in a string of WPP investments in the country. In 2009 Ogilvy took a stake in PR and events agency T&A Communications. Earlier it sank money into Smart Media and several subsidiaries of DacvietVAC Group Holdings, a Vietnam advertising and media conglomerate.

According to WPP, Who Digital's assets as of December 2010 were worth approximately US $660,000.

Vietnam's government plays a heavy role in how its approximately 89 million citizens access the Web and media in general, through state run broadcasting and publishing activity and censorship of religious, political, and other content. However according to some reports the country has become more open to independent media.

The deal is subject to regulatory approval.