Médiamétrie Buys Into African Media Specialist Omedia

French audience measurement agency Médiamétrie has acquired a 50 per cent stake in African media intelligence specialist Omedia. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Founded by Christophe Gondry (pictured) in 2005, Omedia conducts quant and qual media monitoring surveys in sixteen countries in West and Central Africa. The firm employs sixty full-time employees at its offices in Senegal, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire and Gabon, from where it offers services to clients in the media, telecoms and agri-food sectors.

Médiamétrie says the investment will strengthen its position in the African market, where it already has a subsidiary called Marocmétrie in Morocco. As part of the deal Gondry, and Associate Directors Karim Konaté and Arnaud Moisan remain 50% shareholders in the company.

Benoît Cassaigne, Executive Director of Médiamétrie, explains that combining the know-how of local experts such as Omedia, in particular in terms of data collection, with his firm's statistical, methodological and technological expertise is the best solution for meeting market needs. Gondry adds: 'We have been producing declarative television and radio audience measurements with Médiamétrie since 2011 in Senegal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and since 2012 in Côte d'Ivoire. This merger will allow us to go even further thanks to Médiamétrie's internationally recognised scientific expertise'.

Web sites: www.mediametrie.fr and www.omedia-group.com .