XM Asia completes acquisition of Indonesia’s Magnivate

WPP announced the acquisition last month. The company will be rebranded as XM Gravity. Its founding partner, Kevin Mintaraga, will remain on as CEO. Started in 2008, the agency currently manages more than 3 million brand fans for its clients on Facebook and Twitter. Its unaudited revenues for 2011 were approximately IDR 16 billion.

XM Gravity has a digital public relations practice, which helps brands track, engage and respond to consumer comments on social media, and a digital media buying business. It has developed internet, mobile and social-media campaigns for clients such as Danone, Unilever, Frisian Flag, Samsung and Indofood.

Paul Soon, CEO of XM Asia Pacific, noted that the acquisition will give XM Asia a big-bang entry into Indonesia. “Magnivate is by far the most recognised and sought-after partner to work with in Indonesia. We are thrilled to join forces with Kevin and his team.”

He will work closely with Mintaraga to further strengthen XM Gravity’s consumer experience, marketing technology and analytics offerings, and move the company’s suite of social-media marketing solutions "up the curve".

“We’ve worked on several projects with XM and have a strong working relationship with Paul," Mintaraga said. "I see this tie up as an opportunity to combine our expertise and grow our market leadership across all areas of our business.”

Boasting the third largest user base for Facebook, Indonesia is one of the largest socia-media markets in the world.

While millions of Indonesians use their mobile phones to access social-media sites, the penetration rate of both mobile phones and 3G in the country is extremely high, outstripping both China and India.

Indonesia is also one of the fastest-growing advertising markets. The country will be the fifth largest contributor of new advertising expenditure in the world this year, according to MindShare.

Michael Maedel, president of JWT Asia Pacific, explained that the deal gives JWT and XM an important foothold in one of the most exciting segments in Indonesia. “Digital is a big priority for us," he said. "We will continue to build out XM Asia’s reach and presence across Asia over the coming months.”