FOCUS Media, China's largest overseas listed advertising firm, has acquired a Shanghai-based consulting firm which is moving towards becoming an online survey agency, a source said yesterday.
The acquisition marks another step by Focus towards building its online ad portfolio, after it spent US$300 million buying an online ad agency in March.
The acquisition price of iResearch has not been released, but it should be in Focus' second quarter earnings, said the source.
According to its Website, iResearch, an IT consultancy founded in 2002, has 60 employees, with its research operation in Beijing.
Its major product is iUserTracker, a system that studies Web users' online behavior. It also has AdTracker, an online ads monitoring and analysis system and a Web industry database. It publishes more than 50 reports annually on China's Web industry.
"Its ad monitoring and analysis system can help Focus expand in the online ad sector," said the source.
Hou Tao, a spokesman for iResearch, didn't deny the news of the deal, only saying he hadn't received any notification yet. Chen Jie, an official with Focus' investor relation department, said she didn't have any information on the deal.
Focus is expanding into the Internet sector from outdoor advertising to tap into the nation's growing online ad market. It acquired Allyes AdNetwork, China's largest online ad agency, for US$300 million, in March when iResearch's founder was also invited to the ceremony.
Internet advertising in China will reach nine billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) in 2007 and is set to grow more than 30 percent annually over eight years, said iResearch.