Finn Partners acquires Singapore-based Ying Communications

Finn Partners has acquired Singapore-based Ying Communications.

Finn acquired Ying Communications and its sister agency True Worth Consultants through the purchase of Ying Pte Ltd., the holding company that owns both agencies. The firms are rebranding as Ying Communications, a Finn Partners Company; and True Worth Consultants, a Finn Partners Company.

Finn Partners’ Singapore office will serve as the hub and headquarters of its Asia-Pacific operations. The two founders, Allan Tan and Yin Ching Yeap, will serve as managing partners and report to Finn Partners Managing Partner Howard Solomon, who also leads the firm’s West Coast operations.

Finn Partners Founding Partner Peter Finn said the firm has planned to move into Asia-Pacific "for some time" because tech clients are demanding support in the region.

"We met with a bunch of agencies in the fall and spent a day with [Tan and Yeap]," said Finn. "We were impressed with their depth of expertise in the tech sector, their passion for the work, and the culture of the firm they built. It seemed like a perfect fit."

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The firms said no layoffs or client conflicts will result from the acquisition.

Launched in 2001, Ying Communications focuses on b-to-b and technology comms, an area Finn said was critical to his firm’s decision to acquire since tech is Finn Partners’ largest practice area. Ying’s clients include Airbus, Cisco Systems, Cognizant, Cloudera, HP Enterprise, HP Inc., MediaMath, Microsoft, Pure Storage, SES, S&P Global Platts, and Tableau.

"Ying has a staff of 35 people, and half of those people are focused on providing PR services to b-to-b tech clients and the other half are focused on providing marketing services to b-to-b tech clients," said Finn. "That was very attractive to me that they were providing both PR and marketing services."

Finn Partners has about 540 employees and offices in cities including New York, Chicago, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Jerusalem, London, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Munich. In 2016, the firm saw global revenue of $76.7 million, including $72.5 million in the U.S.

"Finn’s culture and ambition was a great fit, and we will be able to support our clients now at a global level, which is something a lot of our clients are interested in as well," said Tan.

Last September, Stagwell Group, the investment advisory firm founded by former Burson-Marsteller CEO and one-time top Hillary Clinton adviser Mark Penn, took an investment in Finn Partners. The firms also rolled out a jointly owned conflict shop called Wye Communications, which has personnel in both New York and Washington, DC. Stagwell has a controlling interest in Wye.

Finn Partners has made several acquisitions since launching in 2011. It acquired Washington, DC-based Greenfield Belser last July, and bought both DVL Public Relations and Advertising and Seigenthaler Public Relations, both in Nashville, Tennessee, at the start of 2015. In fall 2014, it bought U.K.-based technology agency Johnson King and gabbegroup’s health and education practices. In 2013, Finn also acquired Widmeyer Communications and Healy & Schulte, among other deals.