French Publicis to buy a fourth Chinese ad company

French advertising group Publicis is pursuing growth in China and said on Monday that it would buy the domestic agency Lontuo, Publicis' fourth Chinese acquisition in four months.

Financial details were not provided.

Longtuo was created in 2000 and employs 200 people in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou who handle "a portfolio of prestigious Chinese clients," a statement said.

Longtuo also works for the French automaker Renault and cosmetics group Yves Rocher in China.

Publicis operations director Jean-Yves Naouri said the purchase of Longtuo would enable Publicis to "offer international clients a very high level of local savoir-faire (know-how)" in China.

In addition, the deal is expected to "open doors to many important clients," and could result in a leap in the group's online activity in China, he said.

The sector research group Forrester has estimated that China's online advertising market will be worth 94.6 billion dollars in 2012, Naouri noted.

It could become the world's leading online market by 2015 if an estimated growth rate of 92 percent per year holds up, according to eMarketer, another company cited by Publicis.