CWT continued its expansion in Europe by buying up ONboard, the travel agency formerly owned by the chemical giant Hoechst with annual sales of 44m.
August Gossewisch, Carlson's senior executive vice president for Central and Eastern Europe, said the acquisition along with organic growth would next year make his TMC the third biggest in the country after TQ3 and DER.
Mr Gossewisch added: “This acquisition strengthens our position in Germany and gives us promising opportunities. ONboard is an interesting company for us as it handles some illustrious pharmaceutical companies which means we have opportunities outside Germany.
“We can now set foot in some companies which are poised to consolidate over the next year.”
Mr Gossewisch said he expected there to be more consolidation of agencies in Germany where some are still owned by major companies, including BASF, Bosch and Bayer, especially since Lufthansa ended commission payments in September.
He also expected CWT to buy more agencies. “We are definitely looking for new acquisitions. We want to grow further in Germany. It is a key market for us where we feel we are not strong enough. So if there are now opportunities to buy, we will take them.”
ONboard had five outlets in Germany at Frankfurt-Hochst, Wiesbaden, Bad Soden, Marburg and Gersthofen which will complement CWT's 66 branches in the country.
Under previous chief executive Herve Gourio, CWT bought up agencies in both America and France. This policy, under the new worldwide ceo Hubert Joly, is expected to continue.