Global marcoms giant WPP has acquired consumer market research firm Yankelovich, and will be merging the company into its consumer trends and future research agency, Henley Centre HeadlightVision. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 1958, Yankelovich is headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and employs a team of 68 in Chapel Hill, New York, Atlanta and Dallas. The company works with consumer packaged goods, financial services, media, telecoms and healthcare clients, and its unaudited revenues for 2006 were $17.8m.

WPP says that Yankelovich’s top executives will keep their positions and report to Sian Davies, CEO for Henley Centre HeadlightVision.

The merged firm will employ a team of 145 staff, with researchers and consultants based in Chapel Hill, New York, London, Delhi and Mumbai. Plans to expand into China are already underway.

Described by Fortune magazine as one of America's leading analysts on consumer trends, the firm’s President J.Walker Smith commented on the take-over: ‘Our business has been going well over the last few years and we’re looking to find a stronger growth platform.’

His firm is expected to complement Henley’s offering because of its MONITOR study, which has tracked US consumer value and lifestyle trends since it was launched in 1971.

Web sites: www.wpp.com , www.yankelovich.com and www.hchlv.com.

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