It was announced this morning that British digital corporate communications agency The Group merged with Addison as part of its recent acquisition by WPP. The two agencies will amalgamate to form ‘Addison Group’ in what principal of The Group, Mark Hill called “a great fit”.

The WPP acquisition and subsequent merger with Addison is viewed as advantageous for both staff and clients.

Employees will benefit from significant training and as such, tangible growth of their skills whilst clients are set to profit from the merger in terms of what WPP’s long-standing CEO Sir Martin Sorrell calls “horizontality”.

Mark Hill explains that this acquisition will mark The Group’s introduction into “a fantastic network of agencies to collaborate with”, in order to provide a full spectrum of client services.

In terms of the new ‘Addison Group’, Hill believes that the merger will enact a situation of ‘complimentality’ whereby gaps in both agencies can mutually be filled and since the businesses are structured similarly, the transition phase should be fairly easy.

The Group is the latest in a line of agencies and consultancies that have been acquired by WPP over the last few months. There are suggestions that this is part of a broader drive to expand its digital interests as well as developing its services in rapid-growth markets, primarily China and Latin America.

Julia Crawley-Boevey, manager of Results International who advised on the acquisition, says, “WPP is on a mission to future-proof its business and building its digital offer plays a vital role in doing this.”

Given that Sir Martin Sorrell has recently seen WPP overtaken by Omnicom as the world’s biggest advertising, marketing and corporate communications holding company with their mega-merger with Publicis, this new acquisition is what Hill describes as “a demonstration of strong ambition”.