Dentsu acquires majority stake in Webchutney

Dentsu India Group has reached an agreement with Capital 18 and other shareholders of digital agency Webchutney to acquire an 80 per cent stake in the company.

Webchutney (estd. 1999) will now become part of the Dentsu India Group of companies. Dentsu India Group operates under the umbrella of Dentsu Aegis Network, the Dentsu Group’s global operating unit headquartered in London which oversees business operations outside Japan.

Webchutney will operate independently under the management control of its current leadership, informed a Dentsu statement.

Co-founders Sidharth Rao, CEO, and Sudesh Samaria, NCD, will continue to spearhead operations at Webchutney, informed Rohit Ohri, executive chairman, Dentsu India Group.

Webchutney has a team of 200 across offices in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. With the acquisition, the size of the digital-specific talent in Dentsu Aegis Network in India, which also houses iProspect, Isobar, Communicate2 and Dentsu Digital (60), will exceed 1,000, explained Ohri.

On the fit with Webchutney, Ohri said, "We zeroed in on Webchutney after speaking with many people. They have also been very particular about the kind of people they want to partner with. They certainly have the talent. We bring in the resources and the know-how from the network."

The Webchutney teams in Bengaluru and Delhi (NCR) now sit alongside the Dentsu teams. In Mumbai, they will be located in another office, and an integration team is being put in place across the Dentsu India Network to leverage synergies.

In a prepared statement, Sidharth Rao said, "In Dentsu and Rohit Ohri, we have found a partner who is willing to invest in and cultivate our passion to provide path breaking digital creative services to our clients."

Ohri added, "Dentsu is the first global network that's being built out in the post-digital era. We believe we're building the network of the future. Our partnership with Webchutney is another step in that direction."

Under the terms of the agreement, the company will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Dentsu by 2017.

The impact of this transaction on Dentsu’s consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ending 31 March 2014 is expected to be minimal, the Japanese ad giant said in a filing to its national stock exchange.