WPP Digital Takes Stake in HDT Holdings Technologies Inc. in China
Latitude Capital Group Acted as the Financial Advisor to HDT on the Transaction
2008-04-21

WPP Digital, the digital investment arm of WPP, announces that it has acquired a minority stake in HDT Holdings Technologies Inc. (“HDT”) a leading rich media advertising and technology company. HDT was founded in 1999 and has offices in Shanghai, Beijing and GuangZhou, employing over 270 people.

HDT has a broad product portfolio, including iCast, a rich media ad-serving product with distribution agreements with all major portal and vertical sites in China; iStreaming, a video ad-serving product which has distribution agreements with all major video sites in China; iFocus, a contextual targeting advertising product; and T2C, an advertising network with over 200,000 sites delivering 150m page views per day.

WPP joins existing investors CA-JAIC China Internet Fund, Cheng Wei Ventures, Manitou Ventures and Sequoia.

This investment continues WPP’s strategy of developing its services in fast-growing markets and sectors and strengthening its capabilities in digital media. Greater China - a region WPP has been committed to for over 20 years - remains one of the fastest growth markets for WPP, generating revenues of over $600 million, almost one-quarter of the company's Asian revenues. The Group currently employs 9,000 people across Greater China, underlining its strong leadership position in the region - as in Asia overall - across all communications services.