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Publicis Groupe acquires Indian agency Resultrix

Publicis Groupe is strengthening its presence in India with the acquisition of digital marketing agency Resultrix, for an undisclosed sum.

Founded in 2008, Resultrix’s services include search engine optimisation, search engine marketing, online media, web-design, analytics, media buying, social media strategy and mobile marketing.

The agency employs more than 100 people across its international footprint in India, Singapore, the UAE and the US.  It has offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Singapore, Seattle and Dubai.

Its clients include Corbis Corporation, Max Bupa, Standard Chartered Bank, Airtel, Cleartrip, DBS Bank and Emirates NBD, Virgin, Mastercard and Microsoft.

Through the acquisition, Resultrix will operate as a unit within Performics, under the name ‘Resultrix, a Performics Company’. The agency will continue to be led by its founders – chief executive Vidur Luthra and chief operating officer Gulrez Alam. Both will report to Performics global chief executive Daina Middleton and Performics Asia-Pacific managing director Gareth Mulryan.

“We were founded on the belief that digital advertising provides the opportunity to disrupt the traditional media business models and this is a great opportunity to join a network that is renowned for being at the forefront of the industry,” says Luthra. “It allows us to realise our ambitions and leverage our skills, strengths and experience across a larger group footprint which is of huge benefit to our clients and teams.”

The move is part of Publicis Groupe’s strategy to accelerate its presence in fast-growing markets and develop its digital capabilities. According to Publicis Groupe’s Q2 results, the BRIC markets posted the strongest growth of all the regions and new business saw a particularly strong uptake in digital.

India is the world’s 16^th largest ad market. According to ZenithOptimedia’s June 2012 Advertising Expenditure Forecast, ad spend in India is set to increase 6.8% in 2012.

Earlier this week, Publicis Groupe denied rumours that it is planning a takeover bid for Interpublic Group, in the wake of Dentsu’s $4.9bn acquisition of Aegis Group.

Jenni Baker, London