Maurice Levy, chairmain of Publicis Group announced on September 6th the acquisition of PhoneValley founded by Alexandre Mars in 2000. The acquisition price was not disclosed. PhoneValley published 2006 numbers: revenues of €6.7 milllion, net result 600 000€ for a staff of 60. The start-up will be part of Publicis Media Group, which includes Publicis’ Starcom Mediavest Group and ZenithOptimedia units.
Zenith Media estimates that the market for mobile communications & advertising will reach $1.4 billion in 2007. PhoneValley becomes Publicis “Cheval de Troie” to capture part of that market share as they provide mobile solutions, have a strong customer base, and have set foot in 5 leading european countries. I believe that Publicis will easily leverage this acquisition as PhoneVallley can quickly move the agency’s brands to the mobile environment. What will become however of their 2.0 platform, Scroon, which comes as an addition to 3dswym and Blogband?
Publicis is heavily investing in the digital environment, through direct initiatives or acquisitions. Congratulations to Alexandre and his team.