WPP acquires remaining stake in MediaCom Communications in India from Sam Balsara and Lara Balsara Vajifdar
7 Oct 2022
WPP, Sam Balsara and Lara Balsara Vajifdar today announced that WPP has purchased the remaining 26 per cent stake in MediaCom Communications Private Limited in India from Mr Sam Balsara and Lara Balsara Vajifdar.
The initial agreement between WPP and Mr Sam Balsara and his family dated back to 2008. It contributed to the rapid growth that MediaCom experienced in India, making it today one of India’s most respected agencies.
Sam Balsara said: “This innovative partnership we invested in nearly 15 years ago has been a great success for all parties. It has established MediaCom in India as a fast-growing and highly respected agency by advertisers.”
Nick Lawson, Global CEO, MediaCom, said: “It has been a pleasure working with Sam Balsara and Lara Balsara as we grew this successful business in India. We will build on that legacy to deliver the agency model our clients want for the future – founded on brilliant strategy and brand-building capabilities, with pioneering digital expertise running throughout.”
On 26 April 2022, WPP announced that global agencies MediaCom and Essence would merge to form EssenceMediacom.
Further information
Jonathan Sanchez, WPP
[email protected]
About WPP
WPP is the creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for our people, planet, clients and communities. For more information, visit www.wpp.com.
About Madison World
Sam and Lara are the substantial shareholders of Madison Group of Companies. Madison World continues to be independent, as it has been for the last 34 years since inception. Madison World is India’s leading Independent Communications group with 24 units across 11 specialised functions across Media, Digital, OOH, Business Analytics, Rural, Retail, Entertainment, Sports, Events, PR and Advertising, employing about 1100 communication professionals across many cities in India.
About MediaCom
MediaCom unleashes brands’ growth by helping them See the Bigger Picture. This means that we apply our unique ‘Systems Thinking’ philosophy and technology to all marketing levers: media, message and data. As a result, we design communication strategies that deliver short term results and help brands build for the future.
MediaCom is one of the world’s leading media communications specialists, with billings of US$17.2 billion (Source: COMvergence, 2021).
In January 2023, MediaCom is merging with Essence to form EssenceMediacom, infusing Essence’s digital strategy, data-driven creative, analytics and technology capabilities with MediaCom’s world-class, scaled multichannel audience planning and strategic media expertise. The new agency will operate across 125 offices and include 10,000 people. Find out more at www.mediacom.com.