WRG Acquires Serious Events in Hong Kong to Continue Global Expansion

MANCHESTER, England, November 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

WRG Creative Communication, the No. 1 rated agency, has acquired Hong Kong-based Serious Events, the event management business of Serious Staging, to gain a foothold in China, the world's second-largest economy.

Serious Events is a live event management and technical staging business that has produced effective business conferences as well as high profile retail brand events across Asia.

The acquisition extends WRG's sector expertise and geographical reach, adding Hong Kong to its list of offices, which also includes London, Manchester, Abu Dhabi, Doha and New York.

WRG produces some of the world's largest events, including the G20 Summit and the Papal State Visit to the UK. WRG was also involved in the highly acclaimed Olympic Torch Relay, as part of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

WRG was last week voted No. 1 in the RAR list of Top 100 agencies for 2012.

A year ago, UK mid-market private equity firm, LDC, invested in WRG to support a UK and international buy-and-build strategy. The acquisition of Serious Events is the second in four months, following on from the purchase of Canyon in July, a Manchester-based live communication agency with expertise in the retail, hair & beauty, financial services and automotive sectors.

The latest acquisition strengthens the ability of WRG to support and service its international clients on a global basis.  

Barry Day, Chief Executive Officer at WRG, said: "We are delighted, as a result of acquiring such a highly respected agency, to be able to offer our clients and prospective clients, exceptional support with their live marketing within the fast growing Asian marketplace and particularly within China. The acquisition of Serious Events is a further demonstration of our commitment to becoming the leading partner to global brands in the field of live communication.

 "I am also delighted to be welcoming the team at Serious Events to the WRG family, the strength of our combined talents gives us enormous power to further expand our joint suite of services, clients and geographical reach."

David Rule founder of Serious Events said: 'This is an exciting opportunity for the Serious Event team, as access to WRG's expertise will better serve our clients as well as create a sophisticated presence in Asia.

"With the strength of WRG behind us, we will be able to accelerate our growth into China and the wider Asian market."

Serious Events will continue to use its current name under the WRG Group banner and the business has appointed Cliff Zenker from within WRG as General Manager with immediate effect. David Rule will continue to work closely with the business he founded and will support Cliff in the management of key account relationships.