The Gingko Group, a 22-year-old Toronto-based firm, is the latest Canadian agency to join the ranks of the multinationals through its 100% purchase by direct marketing specialist DraftWorldwide of Chicago, a unit of The Interpublic Group of Companies.

Gingko Group and Gingko Direct will operate autonomously from DraftWorldwide and will, for now at least, keep their names, while adding the identifying tag, A Division of DraftWorldwide.

There will be no staff changes and co-chairmen Irvin Lebovits and Perry Miele will stay in their current management roles. Gingko Canada will continue to operate as a small, 100% Canadian-owned firm to handle federal government or other clients who are required – or prefer – to work with a Canadian-owned company.

Miele says the acquisition has been hassle free – that moments after the deal was signed, it was business as usual.

He says the employees of Gingko Direct, headed by direct marketing veteran Lori Appleton, are ecstatic over the deal because, as a direct marketing leader, DraftWorldwide is providing resources that it would have taken the Toronto agency many years to develop on its own. These include proprietary database management products, lifestyle marketing research and acquisition and retention products.

DraftWorldwide has 44 offices in 26 countries and reports billings of nearly us$2 billion in billings.

Other Interpublic agency brands include Ammirati Puris Lintas, Lowe Group (Roche Macaulay & Partners in Canada), and McCann-Erickson Worldwide (MacLaren McCann in Canada).