Kantar acquires 51% of Sri Lankan market research firm

MUMBAI: Kantar, the wholly-owned operating company of advertising firm WPP PLC, has acquired the remaining 51 per cent shares in Lanka Market Research Bureau Pvt Ltd.(LMRB), a Sri Lankan market research agency, for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition takes Kantar‘s stake in LMRB from 49 to 100 per cent.
 
Founded in 1981, the Colombo-based LMRB employs 81 people with field offices in Galle and Kandy. It operates a household panel, a people meter-based audience measurement system, a National Media Survey and tracks radio listener data. Its clients include Unilever Sri Lanka Ltd, Fonterra Brands Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, SmithKline Beecham (Pvt) Ltd (GSK) and Dialog Axiata PLC.

Collectively, WPP companies (including associates) employ 10,000 people in Sri Lanka and neighbouring India that generate revenues of around $450 million.