Dubai digital agency Flip Media attracts Publicis

Acquisition of the Dubai digital-media agency Flip marks maturity of the region's online industry, say commentators.

Flip Media's chief executive, Yousef Tuqan. Galen Clarke / The National
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One of the world's largest advertising groups has bought the digital-media agency Flip Media, which is based in Dubai.

The Paris-listed Publicis Group, which controls advertising agencies such as Leo Burnett and Saatchi & Saatchi, has been in discussions with Flip Media since last year. Yousef Tuqan, the chief executive of Flip Media, said the deal sent "a statement to the industry".

"It shows that global brands see the value of digital in the region," said Mr Tuqan. "We've had numerous approaches over the years, being quite a visible agency in the region. The real challenge was finding the right partner."

Mr Tuqan said Publicis and its advertising agency Leo Burnett was "a really good fit" with Flip Media.

The Dubai agency's clients include the Dubai Shopping Festival, the Abu Dhabi media zone twofour54 and Saudi Arabia's King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.

Following the acquisition by Publicis, Mr Tuqan said Flip Media would seek to work to "amplify" what its clients did in the digital media space.

The value of the acquisition was not disclosed.

Flip Media was founded in 2003, and previously attracted investment from HSBC. The agency will be folded into Leo Burnett Worldwide and will retain its name.

A few international companies have made acquisitions in the Middle East digital industry.

The most significant to date was Yahoo's acquisition of the Maktoob portal for US$164 million (Dh602.4m) in 2009.

Prashant Gulati, a prominent technology investor based in Dubai, said the Flip Media deal illustrated the Middle East online industry has come of age.

"It's a good development for this market. It shows the market is maturing," he said.

Online advertising, which is just one aspect of digital media, is growing rapidly in this region.

According to the Middle East online advertising network ikoo, internet advertising in the Arab world is forecast to hit $250m this year, an increase of as much as 60 per cent last year.

Mr Gulati said online ad campaigns were likely to make up a bigger proportion of brands' advertising budgets. "The share of digital is getting bigger and bigger."

However, digital media still accounts for just a fraction of the Arab world's total advertising market, which is worth about $4 billion a year.

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