In a bid to expand its position in the search engine marketing industry, iProspect — a subsidiary of Aegis North America since 2004, and member of its Isobar network — acquired interactive agency Range Online Media for an undisclosed amount.

Range's clientele includes brand names Calvin Klein, Macys.com, Toshiba, The Sundance Channel, Hermes of Paris, Burberry, and Neiman Marcus.

A few details about the acquisition:

• iProspect's US employee base will swell to 230 from its current 170. It will absorb Range's offices in Texas, New York, and Utah to its existing 21 locations in 17 markets globally.
• Range co-founder Misty Locke will stay on as president and assume the role of chief strategy officer at iProspect.
• The firm will absorb Range's vertical expertise in luxury retail, travel, its hospitality sectors and its display advertising and emerging media business. iProspect specializes in paid search engine and search engine optimization, but has not delved into much beyond those services.
• Clients of both companies will stay on their respective sides of the fence, but new clients will be serviced at the office location they choose or to whichever agency best fits their needs.

Both companies have several accomplishments to their names: Range is listed at as one of AdAge's top 25 search agencies and took honors as the Most Innovative Search Engine Optimization Campaign Award at the Search Engine Strategy Awards last month. iProspect went home with the Best BtoB Search Engine Marketing Campaign.