Advertising titan, WPP plc’s (WPPGY) wholly-owned subsidiary, JWT has consented to acquire a majority stake in India’s advertising agency, Mindset Advertising Private Limited. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Mindset is one of the highly recognized advertising agencies in India and was founded in 1998 in Hyderabad. The agency provides creative services, strategic planning and campaign execution in digital, print and television media.
The agency generated roughly Rs 51 million revenues for the year ended 31 March 2011. Gross assets for the same period were Rs 43 million.
The acquisition will enable JWT to benefit from Mindset’s solid client base including companies like ADP, Airtel, and Pepsi. It is evident from these strategic acquisitions that the company is working hard to expand its presence in fast growing emerging markets.
Growth in global advertising expenditure was recently revised down from 5.8% previously to 4.8% for the fiscal year 2011 by GroupM, a leading global media investment management operation. For the fiscal year 2012, advertising spending is likely to grow by 6.8% year over year.
Based in Dublin, Ireland, WPP Group plc. provides advertising and communications services worldwide. The company emphasizes new and rapidly developing markets, new media and consumer insights. Moreover, effective pricing power supports margins and profit growth.
For the full fiscal year 2011, management expects revenue growth, excluding the impact of acquisitions and currency fluctuations to be over 6%; while its full year margin is quite likely to exceed the company’s margin improvement target of 0.5%.
The company faces competition from its peers like Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. (IPG), Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC), and Publicis Groupe SA (PUBGY.PK).
