WPP Acquires Stake in Globant

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- WPP (NASDAQ:WPPGY), the world's leading communications services group, has acquired a 20% stake in Globant, a new-breed technology services provider focused on delivering innovative software solutions by leveraging emerging technologies and trends.

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Globant's net revenues for the year ended 31 December 2011 were US$90 million, and the net revenues for the six months until 30 June 2012 were US$56.9 million with total assets of US$69 million as of 30 June 2012. WPP will invest approximately $70 million in acquiring the Globant stake. Previous investors Riverwood Capital and FTV Capital continue to hold equity stakes in Globant.

"Increasingly, clients want better coordination between their IT departments and their marketing departments, between their Chief Information Officers (CIOs)  and their Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs)," said WPP Chief Executive Sir Martin Sorrell. "There are many consulting companies or digital agencies that are expert in one function or the other. Few, if any, do both and even fewer can integrate deep technical and creative capabilities on a global scale as Globant does. Partnering with Globant will allow our companies to increasingly provide our clients with insights and skills that will make their digital marketing efforts even more effective and simpler to manage at both the front and back ends." 

Globant's approach is unique in that it provides clients with both the technical rigor that drive innovative software products, combined with the creative and design skills found in digital agencies. Globant has deep experience in working with state of the art technology trends including mobile, gamification, social networks, cloud computing, Big Data and e-commerce. Globant's clients include American Express, JP Morgan Chase & Co., LinkedIn, Electronic Arts, Google, Coca-Cola, National Geographic, Zynga and Sabre Holdings, as well as a number of WPP companies, such as JWT, Young & Rubicam, Grey, GroupM and Kantar.

"Our core competencies in latest trends paired with our innovation processes, enable us to deliver better experiences to end users through technology. We are focused on staying ahead of the technology curve, which makes us the right partner for companies looking to build and engage consumers in a highly competitive environment for user attention," said Globant's CEO and co-founder Martin Migoya.  "We are extremely proud to welcome WPP into our family; their support will help us to achieve our goal of becoming one of the most innovative software development companies in the world."

This investment continues WPP's strategy of targeting fast-growing markets and sectors and the application of technology to the communications services industry. In 2012 WPP completed 25 transactions with companies that are in either faster growing markets (eg BRICs, Next 11, CIVETS, MIST) or faster growing sectors such as digital, data or application of technology, or both.  WPP's digital revenues (including associates) are budgeted to total well over US$6 billion in 2013, representing over 33% of the Group's total revenues, which in 2011 totalled US $16 billion. WPP has set a target of 35%-40% of revenues to be derived from digital over the next five years.

In addition, this transaction also continues WPP's strategy of investing in fast growing geographic markets, which also currently represent one-third of revenues, with a similar objective to reach 35-40% over the next five years and reflects its commitment to developing its strategic networks throughout Latin America. WPP regards this decade as very much the decade of Latin America, particularly with the FIFA World Cup taking place in Brazil in 2014 and the Olympics in Rio in 2016. The Group collectively, including associates, will have revenues of over US $1.6 billion and will employ over 18,000 people in the LATAM region alone.

About Globant
We are a new-breed technology services provider focused on delivering innovative software solutions by leveraging emerging technologies and trends. We combine the engineering and technical rigor of IT services providers with the creative approach and culture of digital agencies. Globant is the place where engineering, design and innovation meet scale.

At Globant the best engineers team up with our art design studios and innovation labs to deliver a superb user experience through innovation, usability, scalability and availability. Today, we are the Latin American leader in the creation of innovative software products that appeal to global audiences. In only 9 years, we created a Company that:

- Has more than 2,700 professionals working for companies like LinkedIn, Electronic Arts, JWT and Zynga, among several others

- Was selected as Endeavor Entrepreneur (2005)

- Was named among the top 10 product engineering vendor (2011) by Global Services

- Was recognized among the top 10 vendors in mobile applications development (2012) by IDC Survey

- Was included in the 2010 Cool Vendor in Business Process Services Report by Gartner

- Was featured as case study of Harvard, MIT, Stanford and others

SOURCE Globant