Media Club, which will continue to operate as a separate agency, was founded in December 1994 and is based in Milan and Rome.
The agency employs 86 people and had revenues of €12m (£7.7m) for the year to December 2001. The deal is subject to Italian competition authority clearance. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
WPP said this acquisition reinforces its comprehensive media offer in Italy, and continues its strategy of strengthening its networks in important markets and sectors. The deal gives Sir Martin Sorrell's WPP extra capacity in the Italian market where UK rival the Aegis Group-owned Carat is the largest media agency.
Following the merger of CIA with The Media Edge, Albino Ponchio, managing director of the merged agency, set Mediaedge:CIA a target of hitting billings of €1bn by the end of 2002. Only Carat has so far managed to break the €1bn barrier, but the acquisition of Media Club will put WPP in a better position to achieve its goal.
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