Acquisition

WPP GROUP PLC
19 August 1999


                               
                    WPP ACQUIRES SHIRE HALL
       Strengthens Position in Healthcare Communications

WPP  Group plc announces that it has acquired Shire Hall Group
Limited  ('Shire  Hall'), the largest  independent  healthcare
communications  consultancy in the  UK.   This  move  advances
WPPs  stated  strategy  of  expanding  in  the  fast  growing
healthcare sector.

Shire  Hall  will  retain its distinctive brand  identity  and
management structure and will join WPPs Branding &  Identity,
Healthcare and Specialist Communications division.

London-based Shire Hall, founded in 1985, is a leader  in  its
field,  with a strong reputation for quality in its  work  and
for  its  people.  Twice running it has been voted Consultancy
of the Year in the UK healthcare sector.

The  company comprises three operating companies:  Shire  Hall
Communications  Limited  which  specialises   in   UK   public
relations,  Shire  Hall  International Limited  which  handles
international  public relations and 4D Communications  Limited
which provides medical education.

Clients  include  Glaxo  Wellcome,  Astra  Zeneca,  SmithKline
Beecham and Bristol-Myers Squibb. The Group employs 70 people.
Shire  Hall  reported revenues of £4.3 million  for  the  year
ended  31  December 1998 and net assets of  £158,000  at  that
date.

This  initiative  is  prompted by  the  trend  towards  global
marketing  in  the pharmaceutical industry.  'It is  essential
for  us  to  have a worldwide presence,' said Patrick  Benson,
Shire Hall's chairman.  'It is more than globalisation - it is
about  the  growing  need  to partner  more  effectively  with
communications  specialists from other  disciplines,  such  as
direct marketing and advertising.'

Commenting  on  the  initiative,  John  Zweig,  CEO  of  WPPs
Branding  & Identity, Healthcare and Specialist Communications
businesses,  said,  'What appeals to us  beyond  Shire  Halls
clear  leadership  in  the  market  it  serves  today  is  its
expertise across media, audiences and geographies that will be
so  critical to healthcare marketing in the near  future.   We
are  delighted to have a company of Shire Halls character and
quality   among   the  already  strong  healthcare   marketing
resources in WPP'.


Commenting  on the interest in Shire Hall from other  suitors,
chief  executive Margot James said: 'Choosing  a  partner  has
been  immensely  challenging.  We  talked  seriously  to  nine
companies  but in the end it wasn't difficult - WPP  impressed
us   as   by  far  the  most  dynamic,  focused  and  learning
organisation  in the business and I am proud that  Shire  Hall
has  become a part of that - I have no doubt that we  will  go
from  strength  to  strength with WPP to the  benefit  of  our
clients and our staff.'


For more information, please contact:
Feona McEwan at WPP London                   0171 408 2204
John Zweig at WPP New York                   [phone]
Kevin McCormack at WPP New York              [phone]
Margot James at Shire Hall, London           0171 229 9922


WPP  Group  plc  is one of the worlds leading  communications
services companies with an annual turnover of $13bn (£8bn) and
revenue  of $3.18bn (£1.92bn) in 1998.  Members of WPP include
global  advertising agencies J Walter Thompson Company, Ogilvy
&  Mather  Worldwide  and  Conquest;  information  &  research
companies, Research International and Millward Brown; Hill and
Knowlton,  the  worldwide public relations and public  affairs
company;   CommonHealth,   the  worlds   largest   healthcare
communications   resource;   Enterprise  IG,   the   worldwide
identity  network and MindShare, the media planning, buying  &
research  company.   The  Groups 75 companies  employ  33,000
people  working  in  950  offices in  92  countries.   Clients
include  more than 300 of the Fortune Global 500.   WPP  is  a
member   of   Business   Weeks  Global   1000,   the   Forbes
International  800,  the FT Europe 500 and Britains  FTSE-100
companies.