WPP invests in Burma after sanctions end
WPP yesterday announced it has bought a stake in a Burmese advertising agency just days after US sanctions on the Asian country were lifted.
New York-based Ogilvy & Mather, a fully-owned subsidiary of global ad giant WPP, yesterday unveiled the purchase of a stake in Today Advertising, an agency in Myanmar.
The firms did not specify the size of the stake nor how much money changed hands.
The deal comes just days after the US suspended sanctions barring US investment in Myanmar following political reforms in the southeast Asian state.
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said last Thursday, “Today we say to American business: invest in Burma and do it responsibly.”
Europe ended sanctions a few weeks earlier. After decades of house arrest, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi took her seat in parliament on 2 May, marking the start of a new era in Burma.
Today Advertising, an agency with 60 employees, will join WPP’s growing business in the Asia Pacific region, which generates annual revenues of over $4bn (£2.5bn) for the company.
WPP shares rose one per cent to 776p.