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Hakuhodo DY Holdings Inc. (Minato-ku, Tokyo; Hirokazu Toda, President & CEO) is pleased to announce that its strategic operating unit kyu has acquired a majority stake in US digital marketing agency Kepler Group LLC (Kepler) headquartered in New York.

Kepler is a digital marketing agency offering one-stop solutions, from digital marketing strategy planning to media buying, through the application of big data and its original Kepler Intelligence Platform (KIP). KIP optimizes marketing outcomes across multiple platforms and channels by integrating and customizing diverse data sets (such as customer data, campaign data, market data, and CRM data) on its own platform. This integration and customization enables automated, high-efficiency campaign deployments. Since its inception in 2012, Kepler has set up offices in Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco to complement its New York headquarters. With a full-time staff of around 170 people, the company is seeking further business expansion.

Digitalization and globalization have made the marketing activities that companies carry out more complex and sophisticated worldwide, spurring innovation in marketing methods and the development of new solutions. To respond to these changes, the Hakuhodo DY Group put forward the acquisition of creative service companies that offer advanced specialist marketing methods and solutions as a key driver of growth (See Note) in its new Medium-Term Business Plan. The acquisition of Kepler is part of this endeavor.

Note: Hakuhodo DY Holdings’ three Key Drivers: (1) Strengthening of sei-katsu-sha driven marketing response capabilities, (2) strengthening of business structures in emerging countries, particularly Asia, (3) continuous enhancement of specialization and innovation.

The Hakuhodo DY Group, through kyu, will continue to enhance specialization and innovation within the Group in order to contribute to revenue growth in the Group’s international operations and to realize our basic medium-term strategies. These are to be among the world’s leading creative service groups as our clients’ best marketing partner; and to create new markets and movements that continuously invigorate society and sei-katsu-sha through the provision of advanced and creative integrated marketing solutions.

The impact of the acquisition of Kepler on Hakuhodo DY Holdings Inc.’s consolidated performance in the year ending March 31, 2019 will not be material.

 

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