Innocean to wholly own US media agency Canvas with 49% stake buy

Innocean Worldwide Holdings Inc., a South Korean marketing company, will wholly own US media agency joint venture Canvas Worldwide LLC by acquiring a 49% stake of the media agency from its JV partner.

According to Innocean Worldwide, a unit of Hyundai Motor Group, the company, which already owns 51% of Canvas, has agreed to acquire the remaining stake from Eden Road Holdings Inc., the parent of Horizon Media LLC, the largest US media agency.

The value of the stake purchase wasn’t disclosed, and the deal is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter.

Canvas, launched in 2015, has built a reputation in the US for excellence with multiple industry accolades, including being named “Most Innovative Agency” by Campaign US in 2021 and “Breakthrough Media Agency of the Year” by Adweek in 2020 and serves a range of leading global brands.

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The media agency’s major clients include the US operations of Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. as well as Dutch beer brand Heineken and hamburger franchise McDonald’s. Last year, Canvas became the second-largest stand-alone media agency network in the US.

“By wholly owning the company as a subsidiary, we’ll be able to make quick decisions in our US business. We also hope to attract more non-Hyundai Motor Group companies as our clients,” said an Innocean official.

Established in 2015, Innocean Worldwide is a global marketing and communications company headquartered in Seoul with operations in over 30 markets, including the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

With the purchase of Canvas, Innocean will have a total of four subsidiaries in the US. Innocean USA produces advertisements and commercials for Hyundai Motor in the US, while David&Goliath makes ads for Kia.

Canvas will market commercials made by Innocean USA and David&Goliath to media organizations such as TV stations, magazines and YouTube.

Wellcom Group Ltd., which Innocean acquired in 2019, offers digital creative content production, social media strategy and digital marketing services.

Write to Yoo-Chung Roh at yjroh@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.