Publicis acquires digital US ad agency

French advertising company, Publicis Groupe of France has bolstered its already substantial investment in Internet advertising by agreeing to snap up Rosetta Marketing Group, for at least $575 million, reports the New York Times.

Publicis, which owns ad agencies like Leo Burnett and Saatchi & Saatchi, says spending on Internet marketing will continue to gain market share from more traditional forms of advertising.

The planned deal for Rosetta is its third major digital acquisition, after the purchase of Digitas for $1.3 billion in 2006 and Razorfish for $530 million in 2009.

According to FT.com, Maurice L'evy, Publicis CEO, claims Rosetta is different to Razorfish and Digitas; its previous US digital deals, because it had a greater focus on consultancy services and data analysis for a few specialist industries, including retail, technology and healthcare.

“Rosetta has a culture of consulting,” notes L'evy. “Strategic insights, strategic advice, helping the client think much broader than just applications and just doing an execution of a plan - this is something I believe is very important.”

Rosetta is expected to post revenue of just below $250 million in 2011, up from only around $10 million six years ago and a double-digit increase from around $218 million last year, Publicis says in the Wall Street Journal.

The marketing company will operate as a stand-alone brand next to Publicis brands such as Razorfish, Leo Burnett and Saatchi and Saatchi. Publicis will keep Rosetta's founder and CEO Chris Kuenne at the helm of the agency.