Cheil Worldwide acquires U.S. marketing firm

Cheil Worldwide Inc., South Korea’s largest advertising agency, said Tuesday that it has taken over a U.S. marketing firm in a bid to expand its global business.

Cheil Worldwide said in a filing that its U.S. unit, Cheil USA Inc., acquired a 100 percent stake in Mckinney Ventures LLC. It did not elaborate on financial terms of the deal.

The U.S. firm, founded in 1969, has led global advertising campaigns for Nike Inc. and Sony Corp. It posted $37 million in revenues in 2011.

Cheil Worldwide said the takeover will contribute to strengthening its global marketing strategy to offer better service to its customers and explore more advertisers worldwide. (Yonhap News)























“We will continue to expand our global business in the future,” a company official said.

The South Korean company has been aggressively beefing up its takeover efforts, acquiring British advertising agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay in 2008 and buying U.S. firm Barbarian Group LLC in 2009. (Yonhap News)