• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, September 13, 2006

In the latest of a series of high-profile interactive mergers, Chicago-based WhittmanHart Interactive bought Los Angeles online video shop DNA Studio.

The DNA Studio acquisition brings the number of WhittmanHart staff to more than 400, and also gives the firm new offices in Los Angeles, St. Louis and Atlanta.

DNA Studio, founded in 1995, has worked with Hollywood celebrities including Carmen Electra and Paula Abdul, in addition to corporate clients like Anheuser Busch, Sony-MGM, Cingular, and Toyota. The shop was known as particularly strong in online video, which was important to WhittmanHart, said WhittmanHart President David Skinner. "Strategically, as the Internet continues to develop and evolve, video is going to be at the forefront, and our clients demand it," Skinner said.

DNA Studio's CEO, John Moshay, joins WhittmanHart Interactive as vice president of business development, and DNA Studio's COO, Chris Gibbin, joins as vice president of creative and strategic services.

The deal comes as the digital agency space is fast consolidating. In July, Omnicom Group Inc. bought a majority share of San Francisco-based EVB, and Wunderman, a direct marketing property of WPP group, purchased Seattle-based Zaaz.