Dentsu Aegis Network has acquired a 100 per cent stake in content marketing company Novus Group in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Novus will be merged with global content provider John Brown Media, which the holding company acquired in 2015. The newly merged company will be re-branded John Brown Novus.
Dentsu declined to disclose the acquisition cost.
Simon Cholmeley, the chief executive at Novus Singapore, will become CEO of the new entity, while Marie Lyte, chief operations officer and chief financial officer at Novus, will take on the role of COO at John Brown Novus.
Lucy Dryburgh, John Brown Media’s existing managing director for Asia Pacific, will join the leadership team, alongside Cholmeley and Lyte.
Dryburgh will report to Chomeley, while both he and Lyte will report directly to Rob Hughes, CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network North Asia.
Founded in 2009, Novus is a multi-platform content and brand-publishing agency headquartered in Singapore with more than 30 staff working across editorial, design and digital.
Last year, the company parted ways with its director of content marketing Andrea Edwards, who left the agency after just 18 months to focus on her consultancy business.
Edwards was not replaced and her role was split between existing members of staff.
When asked by Mumbrella Asia whether the acquisition would lead to job losses, a Dentsu Aegis spokes woman said: “This is not a redundancy exercise. Quite the reverse, we are investing, and building up the network and its capabilities.”
Recently, Dentsu agreed to acquire an 89 per cent stake in Indian digital agency SVG Media to launch Columbus in India.
