ADK Holdings Inc. (株式会社ADKホールディングス) d/b/a ADK, formerly known as Asatsu-DK, is a Japanese advertising agency. Headquartered in the Toranomon Hills building complex in Minato, Tokyo since June 2014 (previously in Tsukiji, Chūō, Tokyo), the firm is Japan's third largest advertising agency after Dentsu and Hakuhodo.[1] The agency has 80 offices in over 20 countries. One, Asatsu-DK Europe, was established in 1993 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Bain Capital owned the company between 2018 and 2025, when it was sold to South Korean video game developer Krafton.
History
Asatsu Inc. was established in 1956[2] by Masao Inagaki. In August 1998, it entered a business tie-up with the WPP Group. It soon merged with fellow advertising agency Dai-ichi Kikaku Co., Ltd. (established in 1951) to form Asatsu-DK (the DK stands for Dai-ichi Kikaku) on January 1, 1999.