French advertising and public relations company Havas’s India arm, Havas Media India, has announced the acquisition of PivotRoots, a digital marketing and communications agency.
PivotRoots was launched in 2016 by Shibu Shivanandan, Hetal Khalsa, Dhruvi Joshi, and Yogesh Khanchandani.
The company works with brands like Amazon Prime Video, Swiggy, Hindustan Unilever, Disney, Bisleri, Medlife, Urban Company, and others. It said it is a fully integrated agency. This acquisition will allow Havas to tap into its understanding of the Indian market and enhance its capabilities in digital advertising.
Yannick Bolloré, chairman of Vivendi, and chairman and CEO of Havas said, “The acquisition is part of our broader strategy to expand our presence in lighthouse markets around the world. We see tremendous potential in India, and we are committed to investing in actions and efforts that help us actualize and leverage this potential meaningfully.“
Shivanandan, of PivotRoots added, “We share a common vision for the future of advertising, and by combining our expertise and talent we can deliver better solutions, services and results to our clients. We are proud of what we have achieved and we look forward to the next chapter in our journey.”
Rana Barua, CEO, Havas India said, “This acquisition comes at an extremely interesting time for our company, which has undergone a complete transformation in recent years and has seen unprecedented growth and success. Their capabilities, analytics and technology, and a new perspective on creativity and innovation distinguishes us in the industry in meeting the evolving needs of its clients and succeeding in an increasingly competitive and extremely dynamic market.”
India’s ad revenue is expected to grow by 12% to $17.3 billion in 2023, according to a report by advertising agency GroupM. This figure will rise to 13.6% next year. In its report titled ‘This Year Next Year 2023 Global Mid-Year’, it said the macroeconomic environment has prompted some markets to trim expectations for 2023 compared with the December 2022 forecast. This list includes India, which is expected to see a 12% growth against the initial projection of 16.8%.
