France's Publicis acquires Dubai digital agency

French advertising giant Publicis Groupe announced on Wednesday the acquisition of Flip Media, a digital agency network in the Middle East.

Paris-based Publicis, one of the world's three largest advertising holding companies, said Flip would be folded into its Leo Burnett Worldwide subsidiary.

No value was given for the deal to acquire Flip Media.

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Dubai, Flip Media has more than 100 employees across the Middle East and India, working on a number of iconic brands.

The agency provides creative solutions, including digital strategy, digital design and production, content delivery and technology platforms.

Its founders, Martin Diessner and Dinesh Lalvani, will continue to be involved with the new entity as non-executive directors and Yousef Tuqan will remain CEO, reporting into Leo Burnett's Middle East North Africa CEO, Raja Trad.

Tom Bernardin, CEO of Leo Burnett Worldwide, said: "Flip Media is a strategic and cultural fit for our company, and we believe its service offering of digital strategy, design, production and content delivery will be a perfect complement to the incredibly strong digital presence we have built across the region."

Dinesh Lalvani and Martin Diessner, co-founders, Flip Holdings Ltd, added in a statement: "This acquisition is the logical next step for Flip. Integrating with a large network gives us the opportunity to provide a strong foundation for through-the-line communications strategy with digital at its core."