Clickthinking bought by international network

Clickthinking employees a staff compliment of 24 and is based in Cape Town. Clients include Mercedes-Benz, Johnson & Johnson, e.tv, and Vodacom. Aegis owns various well-known media brands including Carat, Isobar and Synovate.

The iProspect brand focuses on search engine optimisation, paid search advertising management, online display advertising management, shopping feed management, global search engine marketing, web analytics/attribution modelling, reputation management and related services.

Digital understanding and leadership

Clickthinking MD Peter Stewart says Aegis Media's understanding of and leadership in the digital space attracted him to the deal, which he expects will benefit Clickthinking through access to international best practice and specialist technology. Stewart expects little operational change as the management team is locked into the business for the next five years.

Clickthinking will become the first iProspect office on the African continent and is expected to expand the groups' footprint into Africa beyond SA. Jerry Buhlmann, CEO of Aegis Group, said in a media release on the acquisition that "Clickthinking's tools and knowledge will complement iProspect's search engine marketing expertise, as well as giving iProspect a presence in Africa, one of the world's most exciting, fast growing regions."

Robert Murray, iProspect Global CEO, added that the acquisition will enable the group to speed up expansion in southern Africa and "will offer key expertise for our globally-reaching client campaigns".