Marketing giant Dentsu Aegis Network has acquired Shanghai-headquartered ecommerce firm Bluecom for an undisclosed sum.
Under the deal, Bluecom will be integrated with the firm’s Isobar network. Bluecom, which has offices in Singapore, Hong Kong and Ho Chi Minh City, will now be known as Isobar Commerce.
The agency’s managing directors Patrick Deloy and Florian Legendre will join the Isobar leadership team and report to Jane Lin-Baden, CEO of Isobar Asia Pacific.
The firm, which currently employs about 160 people, is a key partner of major e-commerce platforms Magento, Salesforce Commerce Cloud and SAP Hybris.
Nick Waters, DAN’s regional boss, described Bluecom as a “clear market leader in the area of e-commerce” and the acquisition would “provide strong acceleration to our capabilities, helping us future proof our business.”
This acquisition is Dentsu Aegis Network’s 37th deal so far this year.
Asia is the world’s largest e-commerce market. The B-to-C component of that market has grown 10-fold since 2010 and according to a Mintel report, e-commerce is expected to comprise 20% of all retail sales in the region by 2020.