Digital advertising firm Infectious Media has agreed to join Kepler Group, a digital marketing services company that sits within Hakuhodo DY’s Kyu Collective, which houses companies such as Ideo, Sid Lee, and SY Partners.

Kepler Group’s purchase of Infectious Media – for an undisclosed sum – will bring the combined employee base of the two companies to almost 400 people across offices in London, Singapore, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, and Costa Rica. The independent programmatic-focused pair boast a client roster which includes Hasbro, John Lewis, The New York Times, PepsiCo, HSBC, and Uber.

Infectious Media will retain its brand name for the time being and will adopt the Kepler name in a ‘staged process’.

“We started talking about joining up two summers ago,” said Martin Kelly, Infectious Media’s CEO. “Both firms were award-winning leaders in their home markets. Both firms continued to grow in 2020. But we had each independently concluded that we needed to establish a global footprint to meet clients’ expanding needs. Combining forces presented a terrific way to accomplish that.”

“The extended dialogue provided us a chance to make sure the teams would fit well together,” added Rick Greenberg, Kepler CEO. “And that just became more obvious with every conversation, since both companies were built from day one to be among the most forward-thinking firms in the industry. With this acquisition, the amount of innovation talent we’re bringing together is simply awesome.”