International news: Cheil Worldwide buys Barbarian Group
By Adnews Staff
Cheil Worldwide of Seoul, Korea has purchased a majority stake in The Barbarian Group, a digital marketing agency based in Boston. No financial details are available. As part of the purchase, the group will move its headquarters to New York. The current Barbarian Group management team consisting of CEO Benjamin Palmer, COO Rick Webb and chief experience officer Keith Butters, will remain in place. Barbarian's client list includes Burger King, Kashi and Red Bull, among others. "We chose this partnership with Cheil because they have a successful global organization that is different from the existing holding companies," said Palmer. "They've managed to globalize without falling into the business model of the other holding companies. The Barbarian Group has always been about fighting the battles of the future, not the battles of the past, and Cheil is well positioned to reinvent the future without stressing about protecting the past."