Dentsu to acquire 51 pc stake in Taproot India

Dentsu Inc. announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire 51 per cent stake in Mumbai-based Taproot India Communication Private Limited co-founded by Agnello Dias and Santosh Padhi.

 

Dentsu underlined that Taproot India, which will now be a part of the Dentsu Network, will continue to operate independently under the management control of its current leadership, in a statement announcing the development.

 

Rohit Ohri, executive chairman, Dentsu India Group, said, “Taproot has, very quickly, become one of the most respected communication agencies in India. In fact, Aggie and Paddy are globally recognized and celebrated creative talents. We are delighted that they have chosen to partner with Dentsu. This alliance will give a significant fillip to our growth plans for India. Our collective vision is not to be the biggest but to be the best in the industry.” 

 

On how this acquisition will impact Taproot, Ohri added, “Taproot’s everyday operations and management will remain unchanged. We will ensure that Taproot’s independent spirit and fiercely creative culture stays intact. It will just have a lot more firepower added through integrated communication execution capability and an all-India network.”

 

Agnello Dias, co-founder and chief creative officer, Taproot India, said, “While we are doing alright on the creative front, we felt that we needed to add a bit more logistical and service capabilities across markets. With Dentsu as our partner we feel we can scale up several areas of our operations very quickly without losing what has been working for us so far.”

 

Santosh Padhi, co-founder and chief creative officer, Taproot India, added, “Most importantly, we are assured that this alliance will be mutually beneficial to Taproot India and also to each one of its employees going forward, without changing our creative offering or the nature of the relationships we share with all our clients.”

 

Taproot India brings to Dentsu 33 full-time employees and a roster of clients that includes PepsiCo, Airtel, The Times of India, Polycab, Marico, Karbonn Mobiles, Myntra.com, Mumbai Mirror, Nirma, DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund, UTV Bindass, and UTV Stars.

 

In India, Dentsu Inc. is represented by wholly owned subsidiary Dentsu India Group, which comprises three standalone full-service advertising agencies, Dentsu Communications, Dentsu Marcom and Dentsu Creative Impact. Dentsu India also operates Dentsu Media and Dentsu Digital.