SapientNitro Expands into Latin America with Acquisition of iThink

BOSTON & SAO PAULO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SapientNitro, part of Sapient (NASDAQ: SAPE), today announced its acquisition of 81-percent of iThink, a leading independent digital agency in Brazil, led by Marcelo Tripoli. Tripoli was cited as the most prominent digital professional by Brazil’s top advertisers in a 2011 Advisors Group Digital Scope survey.

“Both SapientNitro and our clients are focused on the importance of the Brazilian market”

The move into Brazil marks the expansion of SapientNitro into the Latin American market, strategically rounding out the agency’s global footprint to include all of the BRIC countries, and expanding its ability to help clients around the world advance in the age of the connected consumer.

Latin America is a strategic and rapidly evolving market for SapientNitro and its clients. Expansion into this region is in response to client demand for SapientNitro’s unique combination of brand, digital and commerce service offerings in the market, particularly as global marketers gear up for Brazil’s hosting of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympics.

Sao Paulo-based iThink, founded in 2002, was a digital pioneer and has since grown into one of the largest independent, digital agencies in the country. The agency’s work is noted for its innovative strategies and world-class creative for some of the world’s best-known brands. iThink’s team services a multi-national client base that includes Castrol, Johnson & Johnson, Kraft, Google, and Samsung.

“As the changing consumer continues to disrupt the way companies and brands interact with their consumers, we see more and more clients looking for better ROI and more innovative experiences around brand, digital and commerce that can be leveraged globally,” said Alan J. Herrick, president and CEO of Sapient. “Our move into Latin America with the addition of iThink as one brand, one culture and one P&L, furthers our role as a new breed of agency unlike any other in both capability and global footprint.”

Already ranked by Ad Age as the largest US agency (#3 worldwide) by digital revenue¹, SapientNitro expands its global footprint to 31 cities across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America with the addition of iThink. The move into Sao Paolo also further extends the company’s ability to help clients leverage their digital assets across strategic markets in every part of the world.

“Both SapientNitro and our clients are focused on the importance of the Brazilian market,” said Gaston Legorburu, worldwide chief creative officer of SapientNitro. “But beyond that, the region has a well-deserved reputation as a tremendous source of creativity. Some of the best work in the world is imagined in Brazil, and iThink has been at the forefront. iThink shares our passion for redefining storytelling for an always-on world and is the most recent in a series of great creative additions to SapientNitro as we move toward building a world-class, global creative agency in the age of the connected consumer.”

“In today’s always-on world, brands need to do much more than push out ads,” said Marcelo Tripoli, CEO of iThink. “Our culture has always been about transforming our clients’ businesses by creating engaging interaction between their brands and consumers. In SapientNitro, we found a kindred spirit that recognizes that digital is not just one more outlet, but increasingly the center of a consumer’s behavior. Reaching today’s evolved consumer involves creating multi-dimensional experience spaces that connect to human emotions.”

Pátria Investimentos Ltda. and Blackstone Advisory Partners L.P. acted as the exclusive financial advisors to Sapient in connection with the transaction.

About iThink

iThink is the biggest independent agency with a digital DNA in Brazil. The 10-year old agency's mission is to help customers achieve results using strategic content, services and entertainment with interactive platforms. Led by CEO Marcelo Tripoli, iThink has more than 60 people. Its biggest clients include Johnson & Johnson, Castrol, Nestlé, Vivo/Telefônica, PepsiCo, Kraft, Google, Skol, Boehringer and Disney.

About SapientNitro

SapientNitro^SM, part of Sapient^®(NASDAQ: SAPE), is a new breed of agency redefining storytelling for an always-on world. We’re changing the way our clients engage today’s connected consumers by uniquely creating never-ending stories across brand communications, digital engagement, and omni-channel commerce. We call it Storyscaping, where art and imagination meet the power and scale of systems thinking.

SapientNitro’s Idea Engineers represent a connected powerhouse of creative, brand and technology expertise - one global team collaborating across disciplines, perspectives and continents to create game-changing success for our Global 1000 clients. We partner with industry-leading clients such as Chrysler, Citi, The Coca-Cola Company, Lufthansa, Target, and Vodafone, in 31 cities across The Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. For more information, visit www.sapientnitro.com or follow us on Twitter @SapientNitro.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements – in particular, SapientNitro’s leadership position, and SapientNitro’s ability to position our clients for success, to help them reinvent their brand stories and to redefine storytelling – that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements are based upon current expectations and beliefs and various assumptions. Actual results could differ materially from management’s expectations and the forward-looking statements contained in this release. A number of factors could cause actual events to differ materially from those indicated, including, without limitation: the continued acceptance of the company’s services; a reduction in the demand for the company’s services in light of the current economic environment; the company’s ability to successfully integrate and achieve anticipated benefits from acquisitions, including SapientNitro’s acquisition of iThink and other recent acquisitions; and other risks and uncertainties as set forth in the company’s filings with the SEC, including without limitation the most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements for any reason, including to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances, except as required by law.

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