Publicis Groupe announces two acquisitions in India

MUMBAI: Publicis Groupe announced today the acquisition of two agencies in India : iStrat, an integrated digital agencies and MarketGate, a Mumbai-based strategic business and marketing consulting firm.

These acquisitions mark another step towards fulfilling Publicis Groupe's ambitious goal of doubling its size in India between 2010 and 2015 - part of the Groupe's commitment to strongly boosting revenue derived from digital and fast-growing markets around the world.

iStrat was founded in 2003 and provides solutions across all forms of digital marketing. The agency services clients like Dupont Hero Corp, Hindware and Nestle among others It is headquartered in Delhi and employs a team of 50.

MarketGate, was founded in 2005 and delivers services in business growth planning, marketing strategy, brand positioning, portfolio strategy, brand architecture development, and marketing skills development.

Their clients include Colgate, Dabur General Motors, GlaxoSmithKline, Godrej, HSBC and Mahindra & Mahindra among others. iStrat will be rebranded Publicis iStrat and will operate as a unit within Publicis Modem, Publicis Worldwide's global digital network.

Its founders Navneet Singh Sahni (CEO) and Sonya Sahni (Head of Marketing) will continue to lead the agency.

MarketGate will retain its name and will operate within Publicis Worldwide. It will also continue to be led by founders Shripad Nadkarni (CEO) and Sharda Agarwal (Executive Director). Both iStrat and MarketGate leadership will now report into Nakul Chopra, CEO South Asia for Publicis Worldwide.