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Tokyo—April 27, 2020—Hakuhodo Inc., Japanʼs second largest advertising company, is pleased to announce that it has acquired a majority stake in major Taiwanese agency group Growww Media Co., Ltd. through a tender offer. Growww Media will now become a consolidated subsidiary.

Growww Media is a major independent agency group in Taiwan that was the first agency group to be listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Growww Media’s five brands, including Taiwan’s oldest full-service advertising group, United Communications Group (established 1970), provide top class services in the integrated marketing, activation, PR, events/exhibitions and digital marketing domains.

The addition of Growww Media as a member of the Hakuhodo Group further reinforces the Group’s ability to provide integrated marketing in Taiwan, a market where many Japanese companies have a presence, and greatly enhances the quality of our services in a wide range of domains besides advertising, including large event and exhibition planning and operation, solutions that traverse traditional and digital media, the building of digital campaigns that maximize user experience, and PR and more.

The marriage of resources honed by Hakuhodo in Japan such as our problem-solving capabilities that leverage creativity, our massive stores of sei-katsu-sha* data, and digital and data marketing knowledge, with Growww Media’s skills and track record will generate huge synergies that will contribute to the growth of clients in Taiwan. The use of Hakuhodo’s global network to support clients that are looking to enter overseas markets from Taiwan will also be considered.

As they support Taiwanese, Japanese and global clients, Growww Media’s brands and the Hakuhodo Group’s existing companies in Taiwan will continue to be independent of each other after this acquisition of shares, and there will be no sharing of confidential client information between them.

President of Growww Media Vince Cheng said:
“Becoming a member of the Hakuhodo Group, an internationally recognized group with a long history, is a very important step for the Growww Media Group. Growww Media can immediately benefit from the Hakuhodo Group’s global resources, including tools, research data, talent, and market knowledge to strengthen our client services. We are confident this partnership will contribute greatly to the growth of our group. This marks a new chapter for the Growww Media Group.”

The Hakuhodo Group will continue to expand its network to enable the provision of sei-katsu-sha insight-based marketing solutions to local, Japanese and global clients operating in various countries.

*Sei-katsu-sha are more than simply consumers, just as people’s lives and lifestyles include more than just shopping. Hakuhodo introduced this term in the 1980s to emphasize its commitment to a comprehensive, 360-degree perspective on consumers’ lives.

About Growww Media

Name: Growww Media Co., Ltd.
Headquarters: Taipei, Taiwan
An operating holding company with five brands under its umbrella: United Communications Group, a full-service advertising agency established in 1970, KY-Post (activation and exhibitions), Pilot Group (PR), Interplan Group (large events and exhibitions) and Medialand (digital marketing). The group was listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in March 2018.
Employees: 711 (as of March 2020)

About Growww Media’s five brands

United Communications Group
Established: 1970
Business: Taiwan’s oldest integrated advertising group. With branding, creative, media buying, digital marketing, research, PR and other companies under its umbrella, the Group provides a full range of services.
https://www.ucgroup.com.tw/

KY-Post
Established: 1991
Business: Planning and operation of events and exhibitions targeting consumers and companies, and office and retail space design. Also actively handles event work outside of Taiwan.
http://www.ky-post.com/

Pilot Group
Established: 1996
Business: Provides cross-disciplinary public relations design, including traditional media, digital, and key opinion leader recruitment, as well as consulting, crisis management and other services in a wide range of industries, including IT, fashion, everyday consumer goods.
http://www.pilotgp.com/

Interplan Group
Established: 1982
Business: Planning and operation of large events such as the Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade opening ceremony, and large exhibitions. Also contracted with the administration of Kaohsiung Exhibition Center, an international convention center in Kaohsiung.
http://www.interplan.group/interplan-go-beyond/

Medialand
Established: 2002
Business: A top-class full-service digital agency in Taiwan that provides one-stop strategy planning, creative and media buying in the digital marketing domain. Offers cutting-edge digital services, including a specialized UI/UX team and proprietary data management platform services.
https://www.medialand.tw/

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