French communications network Havas Group has picked up majority stake in full-service digital agency Langoor for an undisclosed amount.
With the deal in place, Bengaluru-headquartered Langoor, founded in 2010 by Ruchir Punjabi and Venugopal Ganganna, has now been rebranded as Langoor HavasRana Barua, group CEO of Havas Group India, told ET. He said Ganganna will continue to lead the agency and will also join Havas Group at the newly-created position of chief digital officer.
“The Langoor acquisition demonstrates Havas Group’s commitment to expand its scale and expertise in India with a focus on exponential growth, new business momentum, and building and leading future-ready teams,” Barua said. “The acquisition will reinforce our integrated offering and digital expertise in India and complement our existing capabilities.”
Langoor has 170 employees and presence across India, the Middle East and Australia. Among its clients are Unilever, Fossil, Wipro, Emami, Epson, Adobe, Infosys and Moneygram. The company has recorded a 30% year-on-year jump in revenue.
This is the second big acquisition by the Havas Group in India within a year. In May, the company had acquired Think Design, an independent user experience consultancy and design studio for an undisclosed sum as part of its inorganic expansion plan. The Paris-headquartered company has chalked out an ambitious growth plan, including a series of acquisitions to increase its India workforce to about 1,000 from 300 by the end of 2019.
“Digital business is booming in India and bringing Langoor on board is an important new step to further strengthening our digital skills locally,” said Yannick Bolloré, chairman and CEO of Havas Group.
Langoor Havas will have three focus areas—health, business and vernacular. It will expand these services to markets outside of India in the coming months, said Barua.
In a joint statement, Punjabi and Ganganna said, “We pride ourselves in having created an agency focused on digital brand thinking – which is the future. The integration with Havas Group will add scale to the depth of our services and help us to grow even further.”
