The UK chief executive of digital marketing firm iCrossing Paul Doleman has said there will be no redundancies among his 125 staff.

Hearst, which owns UK-based The National Magazine Company, has spent several months unsuccessfully courting iCrossing. The media group originally approached iCrossing with an unsolicited bid of $250m, which was rejected.

Following the rebuffal, iCrossing hired Bank of America to help it attract higher offers. This led to approaches from WPP, Dentsu and Aegis.

But iCrossing has agreed to Hearst's latest offer, and the deal is expected to be completed within the next few weeks, subject to regulatory approval.

Don Scales, iCrossing's US-based chief executive, will remain in his post, although iCrossing's board will depart. The deal will not affect the jobs of iCrossing's 125 UK staff.

Doleman confirmed that there would be no redundancies in the UK. He said that, on the contrary, Hearst would "aggressively invest" in the agency.

He added that the relationship would enable iCrossing UK to tap into Hearst's and Natmag's magazine data and use it for clients; and conversely use its own digital marketing expertise to improve Hearst's online strategy.

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