Japan’s e-marketing company Opt acquires Catcha Digital Asia
Japanese e-marketing firm Opt acquires Catcha Digital Asia. Former Apple APAC head of online marketing Mitsuru Kikunaga will take on the CEO role.
Japanese e-marketing company Opt Inc., one of the largest in Asia, today announced that it has acquired digital media network Catcha Digital Asia Pte Ltd (CDA) from Catcha Group Pte Ltd (“Catcha Group”). The acquisition will also see former Apple Asia Pacific Head of Online Marketing, Mitsuru Kikunaga, currently Opt’s Asia Pacific Business General Manager, stepping into the role of CDA CEO.
Established in December 2009, CDA has offices around in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, and the company is currently helmed by Mitsuru Kikunaga as CEO. Catcha Digital Asia (CDA) is a premier online advertising network that connect brands in the online world through their own suite of online media products.
Opt, which has operations in Japan, Korea and China and a head count of 1,261 employees, is listed on the Japan Securities Exchange (JASDAQ) and generates revenue of US$825 million annually. Its decision to acquire 90 percent of CDA is designed to strengthen its position across Asia and enable CDA to become the one-stop digital solution to meet the requirements of its clients in the ASEAN region, including those of Japanese companies that want to advance into ASEAN’s rapid growth markets.
As part of its overseas expansion strategy, Opt will be dispatching specialists in performance-based advertising such as Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Display Advertising to South-East Asia — both are fields in which Opt is a Japan market-leader. Additionally, Opt will be looking to augment CDA’s current ad network business and introduce Opt’s capabilities to CDA, including providing access to Opt’s management and solutions across display media, social media, and data and search advertising.
As part of the terms of the acquisition, Catcha Group will retain a 10 percent stake in CDA. Other than CDA, international investment firm Catcha Group also represents numerous international online media brands across 13 countries including iProperty Group Ltd, iCar Asia Limited as well as Dealmates.com.
CEO of Catcha Group, Patrick Grove, was also one of our keynote speakers for Echelon 2012.
Read also: Patrick Grove of Catcha Group shares the secret ingredients of a successful IPO
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