PUBLIC relations firm Edelman will expand its regional presence through the acquisition of a Taiwan office within the next eight months.
As the world's largest privately held PR firm, the New York/Chicago-based company has grown steadily in the region since 1985.
With nine offices in the Asia Pacific, Serge Dumont, Edelman's Greater China president, called the acquisitions an excellent method of growth, provided there was a strong corporate culture in place.
Mr Dumont previously owned the Beijing PR firm InterAsia and sold the company to Edelman in 1993.
'Being a private company, they have a strong identity and entrepreneurial spirit, so it is easy for them to take over a company and keep the management in place. It gives them the support and structure they need to grow,' he said.
'Last year, we tripled our turnover in China, which is something that never would have been possible, and now we are consolidating and putting up quality structures. This is the kind of strategy that would not have been possible on our own.' Although he would not disclose billings for the 1994/95 fiscal year which ended in June, Mr Dumont said Asia offices accounted for 10 per cent of the company's worldwide billings.
With such high profile accounts as Nike, Mobil Oil, Johnnie Walker and the computer giant Tandem, Mr Dumont said the China market had experienced much higher growth in fee volumes than the 20 per cent growth the company had maintained annually over the past five years.