Asia Pacific bid by Enterprise IG

WPP-owned global design group Enterprise IG has continued its worldwide expansion with the acquisition of two Australia-based companies. The consultancy now claims it is the biggest branding and identity specialist in the Asia Pacific region, employing more than 100 people.

Springham Anderson, a 21 strong group based in Singapore and Perth, and Horniak & Canny, the Sydney and Melbourne consultancy with 42 employees, have been acquired by Enterprise IG.

With offices in Hamburg, Hong Kong, London, New York, Oslo, San Francisco, Shanghai, Stockholm and Taiwan, Enterprise IG now employs more than 700 people, producing an annual turnover of £99m.

The latest additions follow the WPP Group’s European growth strategy for 1999, which has already seen the integration of German branding consultancy Windi Winderlich and Scandinavian design group Brindfors.

A five-year plan to build six global market-facing practices under Enterprise IG management has also been announced. The group aims to provide a complete range of branding services in each of its worldwide offices.

In conjunction with the takeovers, and to support the integrated global approach, Enterprise IG has established a new global management structure. Former chief executive officer for North America Jim Johnson is now chairman of Enterprise IG Corporate Brand; Dave Allen has moved from being chief executive officer for Europe and Asia to chief executive officer Corporate Brand; and former chief executive officer of SBG Enterprise, Flavio Gomez, is now Product Brand chairman.

Allen says: “We are delighted with the acquisition of Springham Anderson and Horniak & Canny, which bring key strengths and a strong client base to the group, including Fosters in Sydney, Keppel Corporation in Singapore and Indonesia’s Bank Mandiri.

“From our established bases in Hong Kong, Taipei and Shanghai, we have created a consultancy with seven offices in the region. We’re now able to fully meet the needs of Asian businesses who want to regionalise their local brands, or for European and US corporations who want to localise their international brands.

“With Asia coming back strongly we see many possibilities developing for brand consulting,” says Allen.