Emap pays £52.5m for ad 'Oscars'

MAGAZINES giant Emap today splashed out £52.5m for the global advertising industry's biggest awards event.

It is buying the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival from 71-year-old Roger Hatchuel in a deal that brings Emap an event dubbed the 'Oscars' of the ad industry. More than 8000 executives gather at the Côte d'Azur event each June for awards and conferences.

Emap finance director Gary Hughes said the company planned to extend the scope of the awards and add a host of new exhibitions to the event. 'Cannes Lions has been going for 50 years. It really is the flagship of the international advertising awards world,' he said.

Emap's main publication for advertising agencies is Shots, a monthly video catalogue of the world's best ads. Hatchuel had been expected to hand the festival to his son Romain but the pair are thought to have split so Roger held an auction of other bidders.

The event was set up in 1954 by European cinema ad agencies including Pearl & Dean and was inspired by the Cannes Film Festival.