BlueFocus Communication Group
BlueFocus Communication Group (Chinese: 蓝色光标) is an ad agency engaged in marketing. BlueFocus was founded by Oscar Zhao on July 1, 1996. It was launched on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2010. BlueFocus acquired a minority stake in Huntsworth, a London-based PR group, for £36.5 million in April 2013, and in December 2013, acquired a majority holding in social media marketing agency We Are Social for $30m. Since 2014, BlueFocus has engaged in international expansion. It acquired a majority holding in Fuseproject, a U.S. design agency, for $46.7 million in July 2014, which 9 years later was bought back by Yves Béhar, the founder and CEO. It also acquired a majority holding in the North American assets of Canadian advertising company Vision7 International, including Cossette, an ad agency, and Citizen Relation, a PR company, in December 2014 for $210 million. By 2014, it was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of $3.8 billion, and was ranked as the 17th largest ad agency in the world. As of 2015, its clients included PepsiCo, Lenovo, Volkswagen, and BMW. BlueFocus established BlueVision in 2016 as the international division of the company that manages BlueFocus's overseas marketing activities. In 2017, it attempted to merge its international efforts with US-based Fluent, but eventually discontinued the effort over political concerns. In 2019, it advanced into an arrangement whereby its international subsidiaries were partially divested into a separate company Blue Impact, which was to be purchased by a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Legacy Acquisition led by ex-Procter & Gamble executives Edwin Rigaud and Darryl McCall to publicly list in the United States. This arrangement was terminated in July 2020 "in response to the increasing impact on the global advertising sector, and global markets broadly, resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has negatively affected the market valuations." In 2021, BlueFocus sold a majority stake of its international division to the Québec-based global investment group Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and global private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. Later that year the companies in its international division were grouped under the holding company brand name Plus Company.
Company type | Public company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Advertising |
| Founded | July 1, 1996 |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide, primarily in China |
Key people |
|
| Divisions | BlueVision |
| Website | bluefocusgroup.com |
BlueFocus Communication Group (Chinese: 蓝色光标) is an ad agency engaged in marketing.[2]
BlueFocus was founded by Oscar Zhao on July 1, 1996.[3] It was launched on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2010.[4]
BlueFocus acquired a minority stake in Huntsworth, a London-based PR group, for £36.5 million in April 2013,[3][5] and in December 2013, acquired a majority holding in social media marketing agency We Are Social for $30m.[6][7][8][9]
Since 2014, BlueFocus has engaged in international expansion.[2] It acquired a majority holding in Fuseproject, a U.S. design agency, for $46.7 million in July 2014,[10] which 9 years later was bought back by Yves Béhar, the founder and CEO.[11] It also acquired a majority holding in the North American assets of Canadian advertising company Vision7 International, including Cossette, an ad agency, and Citizen Relation, a PR company, in December 2014 for $210 million.[12]
By 2014, it was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of $3.8 billion,[3] and was ranked as the 17th largest ad agency in the world.[2] As of 2015, its clients included PepsiCo, Lenovo, Volkswagen, and BMW.[13]
BlueFocus established BlueVision in 2016 as the international division of the company that manages BlueFocus's overseas marketing activities.
In 2017, it attempted to merge its international efforts with US-based Fluent, but eventually discontinued the effort over political concerns.[14] In 2019, it advanced into an arrangement whereby its international subsidiaries were partially divested into a separate company Blue Impact, which was to be purchased by a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Legacy Acquisition led by ex-Procter & Gamble executives Edwin Rigaud and Darryl McCall to publicly list in the United States.[14][15] This arrangement was terminated in July 2020 "in response to the increasing impact on the global advertising sector, and global markets broadly, resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has negatively affected the market valuations."[16]
In 2021, BlueFocus sold a majority stake of its international division to the Québec-based global investment group Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and global private equity firm CVC Capital Partners.[17][18][19][20][21][22] Later that year the companies in its international division were grouped under the holding company brand name Plus Company.[23]
References
[edit]- ^ "BlueFocus CEO: Half of digital marketing work and positions will be replaced by AI". Campaign Asia. 2024-06-10. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
- ^ a b c Doland, Angela (2014-04-27). "What You Need to Know About China's Rapidly Growing BlueFocus". Ad Age. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
- ^ a b c Cookson, Robert (29 April 2014). "China's Blue Focus plans $300m overseas acquisitions". Financial Times. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- ^ Barrett, Steve (11 April 2014). "A new agency star rises in the East | How BlueFocus aims to become the Chinese version of WPP". PRWeek. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- ^ Mance, Henry (25 April 2013). "Huntsworth surges on Chinese partnership". Financial Times. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- ^ "China's Blue Focus buys UK social media agency". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2025-03-11.
- ^ "We Are Social acquired by BlueFocus in $30m deal". The Drum. Retrieved 2025-03-11.
- ^ Owens, John (December 18, 2013). "We Are Social acquired by China-based BlueFocus". PRWeek UK. Retrieved 2025-03-11.
- ^ McCabe, Maisie (18 December 2013). "Chinese marketing company buys We Are Social". Campaign. Haymarket Media Group. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
- ^ Bradshaw, Tim; Cookson, Robert (23 July 2014). "BlueFocus to enter US market with stake in Fuseproject". Financial Times. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- ^ "Yves Béhar is taking back control of Fuseproject, and doubling down on EVs". Fast Company. 2023-11-06. Archived from the original on 2023-12-17. Retrieved 2025-04-02.
- ^ Krashinsky, Susan (15 December 2014). "Advertising firm Vision7 paves inroad to Asia with sale of Cossette, Citizen". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- ^ Vanderklippe, Nathan (24 April 2015). "CEO of China's BlueFocus not your average Mad Man". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
- ^ a b "BlueFocus advertising & marketing assignments at Adbrands.net". www.adbrands.net. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
- ^ Moore, Thomas (23 August 2019). "Ex-P&G execs to run agencies spun off from Blue Focus". PRWeek. Archived from the original on 2019-08-26. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- ^ "Legacy Acquisition Corp. Terminates its Amended and Restated Share Exchange Agreement with Blue Valor Limited and Seeks a New Target".
- ^ Connell, Mike (May 4, 2021). "CDPQ and CVC acquire majority stake in BlueFocus International". Media in Canada. Retrieved 2025-03-11.
- ^ Crann, Justin (May 5, 2021). "The next steps for BlueFocus' international agencies". Strategy. Retrieved 2025-03-11.
- ^ Stam, Aleda (May 4, 2021). "CVC Capital, CDPQ agree to joint majority stake in BlueFocus International agencies". PRweek. Retrieved 2025-03-11.
- ^ "CVC and CDPQ Take Majority Stake in BlueFocus". www.themiddlemarket.com. 2021-05-05. Retrieved 2025-03-11.
- ^ Staff Writers (2021-05-05). "CVC And CDPQ To Acquire We Are Social, fuseproject And Vision7 International". B&T. Retrieved 2025-03-11.
- ^ Wilkinson, Zoe (2021-05-05). "CVC & CDPQ set to acquire global agencies We Are Social, Fuseproject & Vision 7 International". Mumbrella. Retrieved 2025-03-11.
- ^ Josh Kolm (November 5, 2021). "Vision7's agencies are now part of Plus Company". Retrieved 2025-04-02.