Beehive Communications close to signing strategic deal

Beehive Communications, a mid-size integrated communications and advertising solutions provider based in Mumbai, is understood to be close to signing a strategic deal with a global advertising major within the next 3-4 weeks. Established in 2003, Beehive Communications has a presence across South Asia, with offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Dhaka and Sharjah.

According to people in the advertising industry, the enterprise value of Beehive Communications is expected to tip the scales at around Rs 100 crore, and this will be one more in the list of consolidation of mid-size advertising agencies with a global advertising network.

Sanjit Shastri, CEO, Beehive Communications, declined to comment on the impending transaction. However, it is reliably understood that Beehive is in advanced stages of negotiations with at least two global advertising majors for a clutch of options including a strategic sale or a strategic alliance or forming a consortium with a global agency to explore newer markets. Beehive Communications has had relationships with Chambor, General Motors, Jockey, Star Cruises, Tourism Malaysia, Maharashtra Tourism among many others.

In addition to the advertising arm, Beehive Communications has BeeDigital, the digital division offering a range of social media services, web design & development, mobile-app development, display advertising among others.

Beedigital works at aligning the offline and online communication components of brands to create streamlined messaging.

Beehive also has a full-service opinion and marketing research company which provides customised research solutions for marketing investment plans in the Indian marketplace.

As and when Beehive Communications gets consolidated into a global network, it will be another key deal in a series of moves that have been executed in the recent past. Publicis Groupe, which is the third-largest advertising & marketing services company in the world, during late last year acquired two Indian agencies - iStrat, a digital agency and MarketGate, a brand marketing consultancy promoted by ex-Coke hands Shripad Nadkarni and Sharda Agarwal. Prior to this, it had acquired agencies in digital, healthcare and public relations, including Indigo Consulting and Resultrix. These were consolidated under Leo Burnett and ZenithOptimedia respectively.