South Korea’s leading advertising agency Cheil Worldwide Inc. took over Canada-based pricing strategy consulting firm Pricing Solutions Ltd. (PSL) in a move to meet growing demand for business-to-business (B2B) marketing in the world. The financial terms for the deal were not disclosed.

Cheil said Thursday that Iris, its subsidiary operating in the U.K., acquired PSL, an international pricing strategy consulting firm headquartered in Toronto, Canada that also has British operation in London. The firm provides pricing management, training, systems and advisory services in business-to-customer (B2C) and B2B markets. Its customers vary including those in pharmaceutical, publishing, apparel and consumer goods industries to the tech sector. Its revenue has grown at an about 10 percent every year in the past three years, and B2B segment accounts for a whopping 80 percent of its total revenue.

Cheil previously bought B2B marketing agency Founded last April through its U.K. affiliate Iris. The Korean firm expects great synergy between the two B2B agencies under its umbrella, pinning hopes on them to expand its footprint in the B2B marketing market in Europe and North America.

A Cheil official said Founded’s promotion strategy implementation capabilities and PSL’s pricing strategy expertise are expected to create great synergy, allowing it to introduce an unrivaled comprehensive marketing solution. On top of that, the two B2B agencies would cooperate with Iris and Cheil PengTai - Cheil’s Chinese digital marketing services company - to better respond to increasing demand in B2B marketing services.

Cheil will push ahead with constant mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the field of not only B2B marketing but also e-commerce, customer relationship management and digital media, said Lim Dae-gi, Cheil’s chief executive.

By Kang Young-woon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]