ICrossing Acquires Latin American Shop Wallaby

Hearst-owned digital agency iCrossing has acquired Santiago, Chile-based Wallaby Group to help the shop win more global business. The purchase price was not disclosed. "We are now competing for clients that are asking for global capabilities that can be supported on a local level and we need a larger footprint," said iCrossing President-CEO Don Scales. ICrossing began working with Wallaby in 2009 on search marketing for Coca-Cola in Latin America. Wallaby's staff of 50 will join iCrossing's 750 employees and Wallaby's offices in Santiago, Lima, Mexico City, Buenos Aires and Madrid bring iCrossing's total footprint to 18 offices. Wallaby, which counts clients such as Toyota, LG and Met Life, will be renamed iCrossing, effective immediately. Like its new parent, Wallaby, too, started as a search agency. Wallaby CEO Gonzaga Valdes, based in Santiago, will now serve as CEO of Latin America/Spain for iCrossing, reporting to Mr. Scales. Of iCrossing's $152.7 million in global revenue last year, only 11% comes from outside the U.S., according to Ad Age Data Center. Not including Wallaby, it has offices in Munich, Seoul and Brighton, U.K. Last June, publishing giant Hearst Corp. acquired iCrossing for $325 million. At that time, Mr. Scales signaled that more deals were on the way. This is iCrossing's first acquisition under Hearst. So where's the shop headed next? "We need to place a high-priority on China and broaden our footprint in Europe," Mr. Scales said.

ICrossing Acquires Latin American Shop Wallaby

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