M&C Saatchi acquires stake in indie February, merges ops; eyes majority in six years

M&C Saatchi Worldwide has acquired minority stake in Delhi-based independent February. The two entities will merge operations to form M&C Saatchi February.

The independent was conceived on 1 February 2012, and was launched in May the same year by ex-Mudra hands Gopal Krishnan and Nirmal Pulickal. They will continue as MDs (business and creative respectively) at the new entity. Joining them as president will be Anjali Nayar, CEO, M&C Saatchi Delhi.

Krishnan and Pulickal will have majority stake in the venture, with M&C Saatchi Worldwide increasing stake in a phased manner to a majority in six years, informed Chris Jaques, CEO, M&C Saatchi Asia.

Speaking with Campaign India, he said, “As per the current laid out plans, we should take up extra stake every three years, leading up to a majority in six years. Eventually, we will take up complete ownership in 10 years or so, but that is only if Gopal and Nirmal want to sell. Typically, in every office in the world, we want local managers to have a significant ownership.”

While February has a team of 14 people, M&C Saatchi Delhi has a team of 20. “We will talk through the plan to all of our staff today. As many as are willing to move, and as many as we feel are appropriate for the new organisation, will be taken on board. Gopal and Nirmal have built the organisation with a certain leadership vision and the new team will be aligned with that,” added Jaques.  

M&C Saatchi February Delhi will now be the network’s India hub. The agency's other mainline advertising office in Mumbai, which was set up to service the Jet Airways account in 2006, was wound up in end-2012.

The new entity will offer advertising, design, digital, social, mobile, events and activation, informed an official statement.

February has in its fold clients like Blossom Kochar, Avis and Typhoo (Apeejay Surendra Group), while M&C Saatchi’s portfolio includes SBI Credit Cards and DLF Retail.

Moray MacLennan, worldwide CEO, M&C Saatchi, said, “India is a fundamental part of our global strategy, and we're delighted to join forces with a brilliant team to help us create a global hub in this critical market.”

Krishnan added, “We're delighted to be joining forces with M&C Saatchi as we embark on the next phase of February’s exciting journey. We’ve been doing some great work for some wonderful clients over the last couple of years, and this new partnership will help us play on an even bigger stage going forward.”

Pulickal said, “When we launched February two years ago we had a simple goal – to create great work that works for our clients’ business. It’s great to find a partner in M&C Saatchi who shares our vision entirely. We’re very excited about the future of M&C Saatchi February.”