Cheil Worldwide, the advertising unit of Samsung Group, has recently hired Goldman Sachs as lead financial advisor for its planned stake sale to French ad giant Publicis Groupe, industry sources said Friday.

Cheil has not yet officially confirmed the talks. But the company said last week in a regulatory filing: “We are discussing partnerships with global ad companies but nothing has been decided.”

Sources said Publicis is considering acquiring a controlling stake, or 28.28 percent shares owned by Samsung C&T, Samsung Electronics and Samsung Card. The deal is expected to be completed within the first half of this year.

With the acquisition, Publicis seems to be interested in securing more orders from Samsung Electronics and expanding its presence in Asia, especially the soaring Chinese market.

Goldman Sachs, the U.S.-based investment banking firm, has tightened ties with Samsung as it has managed several deals of Samsung companies, including the highly-publicized merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries last year. 

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)