Dentsu Inc. (Tokyo: 4324; ISIN: JP3551520004; President & CEO: Toshihiro Yamamoto; Head Office: Tokyo; Capital: 74,609.81 million yen) announced today that its global business headquarters Dentsu Aegis Network Ltd., has reached an agreement to acquire a 100% stake in Novus Group Holdings Pte Ltd (Head Office: Singapore; Founder and CEO: Simon Cholmeley; hereinafter "Novus"), a content marketing company in Singapore.

Founded in 2009, Novus is a multiplatform content and brand-publishing agency offering a full spectrum of services in the content marketing domain, from strategy through to content creation and management. The agency, with a staff of 35 that largely comprises teams in editorial, design and digital, has grown to become one of the largest independent content marketing companies in South East Asia, delivering content solutions with digital capabilities to both local and multinational corporations in Singapore and across the region.

As digitization progresses, and as brands recognize the need to reach consumers across many platforms, content marketing is growing in importance as a vital means in enabling marketers to get their messages to consumers.

Following the acquisition, Novus will be merged with John Brown Media Inc. (head office: London City, UK), the Group's global content marketing leader, and will be　rebranded as John Brown Novus. The new agency will advance the Group's growth strategies in the Asia Pacific region by cooperating with iProspect, one of the Dentsu Group's ten global brand networks* providing services in the digital domain.

The impact of this transaction on Dentsu's consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2017 is expected to be minimal.

*Dentsu Aegis Network Ltd., the Dentsu Group's global business headquarters based in London, is expanding the Group's business worldwide through ten global network brands--Carat, Dentsu (Dentsu Brand Agencies), dentsu X, iProspect, Isobar, mcgarrybowen, Merkle, MKTG, Posterscope and Vizeum--as well as through several specialist/multi-market brands

Profile of Novus            
Company Name:Novus Group Holdings Pte Ltd
Location:Singapore
Date of Establishment:November 2009
Shareholding Ratio*:Dentsu Aegis Network 100%
　　　　　　　　　　 *After acquisition has been completed
Gross Revenue:S$ 4.1 million (year ended December 2016)
Key Management Personnel:Simon Cholmeley (Founder & CEO) and Marie Lyte (COO & CFO)
Number of Employees:35
Line of Business:Content Marketing

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