WPP-Scangroup is a subsidiary of WPP and is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. It is the largest marketing and communication group operating a multi-agency model across multiple disciplines in Sub-Saharan Africa. The group comprises the ad agencies Ogilvy Africa, SCANAD, JWT and BluePrint Marketing; media firms GroupM, MediaCom Africa, Mindshare and MEC; public relations agencies Ogilvy PR (a part of Ogilvy Africa) and H+K Strategies; market research agency Millward Brown; specialty communication firms Roundtrip and Geometry Global; and digital companies OgilvyOne, Squad Digital and SCANAD Digital. In all, over 1200 people are employed across the various organizations. Miriam Kaggwa is the group CEO having replaced Patricia Ithau who stepped down in 2025.
WPP-Scangroup is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The group has presence in 25 countries in Sub Saharan Africa. Majority-owned offices in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and minority owned operations in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Namibia, Senegal and Zimbabwe. The group also has affiliate partners in Botswana, DRC, Congo Brazzaville, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Niger, Reunion and S. Leone.
History Scangroup Limited was incorporated in Kenya as a private limited liability company on 26 January 1999 under the name Media Initiative East Africa Limited. In October 2005 the company changed its name to Scangroup Limited. Scangroup listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange on 29 August 2006 and is currently the only marketing services company listed on the exchange. In late 2013 Scangroup became a subsidiary of WPP and subsequently the company renamed itself to WPP-Scangroup Limited on 15 June 2015.
Ownership Since 2006, the company' s shares are listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, where it trades under the symbol:SCAN. Its largest shareholder is the WPP Group, controlling 50.10% of the issued share capital of Scangroup though its subsidiaries Cavendish Square Holding BV and Ogilvy South Africa. , the ten largest investors in the company were:Shareholding in Scangroup Stock In December 2010
+ Scangroup Stock OwnershipRank Name of OwnerNumber of SharesPercentage Ownership1Cavendish Square Holding B.V176,903,56046.692Bharat Kumar Thakrar and Sadhna Bharat Thakrar51,811,36013.683Ogilvy and Mather South Africa (Proprietary) Limited12,907,8563.414Standard Chartered Nominees, Non-Resident A/C KE 927312,743,9003.365White, Andrew John Laird12,206,0003.226Standard Chartered Nominees Account KE 1798410,845,7932.867Standard Chartered Nominees, Non-Resident A/C 99449,901,4002.618CFC Stanbic Nominee Limited A/C NR10306255,677,5001.509Standard Chartered Nominees Account KE176052,544,1200.6710Standard Chartered Nominees A/C 9098AC2,352,0800.62 Total297,893,56978.63
WPP-Scangroup Companies The companies within Scangroup include, but are not limited to the following:The Companies of Scangroup
Ogilvy Kenya Limited, Nairobi, Kenya Milward Brown East Africa Limited, Nairobi, Kenya Ogilvy Africa, Nairobi, Kenya O&M Africa BV, Netherlands Hill & Knowlton East Africa Limited, Nairobi, Kenya Ogilvy Tanzania Limited, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Redsky Limited, Nairobi, Kenya Scanad Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya Scanad East Africa Limited, Nairobi, Kenya BroLl WesT™, Nairobi, Kenya J. Walter Thompson Kenya Limited, Nairobi, Kenya Squad Digital Limited, Nairobi, Kenya Mediacompete East Africa Limited, Nairobi, Kenya Grey East Africa Limited, Nairobi, Kenya Scanad Uganda Limited, Kampala, Uganda Scanad Tanzania Limited, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Roundtrip Limited, Nairobi, Kenya
See also WPP Group Plc Ogilvy & Mather Nairobi Stock Exchange Economy of Kenya
References
External links Profile At Google Finance Website of Scangroup Website of WPP Group Plc Website of Squaddigital Limited Scangroup Launches Digital Advertising Division