Leo Burnett Readies Another Move on China

(MoneyWatch)  It looks like Publicis Groupe-owned ad shop Leo Burnett Worldwide is about to make an aquisition in China, according to Reuters, but Chairman Tom Bernardin remains tight lipped about who exactly is getting brought into the corporate fold.

"You might see one next week," Bernardin told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday, saying the acquisition was certain to go through but the timing was not yet set. He declined to give further details... China's fast-growing advertising market is already the world's fourth-biggest, worth $21 billion according to an estimate by brokerage CLSA, as economic growth boosts corporate spending on advertisements and marketing.

AgencySpy takes a stab at who Burnett's target might be:

Want to makes some guesses? How about Zi Corporation, a mobile discovery and advertising solutions, whose revenue is up 15% and debts way down this quarter? How about outdoor advertising firm VisionChina Media Inc.? Hmm... Chinese web portal Sohu.com? It's a side step, but the company is huge in the online gaming sector. Their revenue jumped 156% to $84.8 million recently. Who knows?

This isn't the first company Leo Burnett has snapped up. Last year, the firm -- which did $190 million in revenue in 2007 -- acquired Yong Yang as part of Publicis' larger effort at moving into China.