Kantar To Buy Majority of Pakistan's Oasis

WPP-owned Kantar is buying a majority stake in Oasis Insights - a full service market research consultancy based in Karachi, Pakistan. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 1996 by the late Moazzam Ali Qadri, Oasis Insights specialises in brand tracking, consumer and segmentation studies, along with NPD, media and ad research across a wide range of industries such as the telecoms, financial services, automotive and oil and gas sectors.

The firm employs 105 people and has additional operations in Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Lahore, New Multan, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Quetta, Sahiwa, Sukkur and Bahawlapur. For the year ended 30 June 2011, its revenues totalled around PKR 254m (£1.8m).

In a statement, WPP said that the investment continues its strategy of developing its services in 'fast-growing' markets and sectors, citing Pakistan as one of the fastest-growing markets in the world.

Web sites: www.wpp.com , www.kantar.com and www.oasisinsights.com .