Publicis Groupe acquires Convonix

Along with Starcom MediaVest Group India, will place the alignment as one of the largest digital marketing companies in India

Publicis Groupe, a Euronext listed company, today announced its acquisition of Convonix, a digital marketing consulting firm based in Mumbai.

Convonix and Starcom MediaVest Group in India, under the acquisition, will place the alignment as one of the largest digital marketing companies in India.

The three founding members; Vishal Sampat, CEO, Sarfaraz Khimani, co-COO and Pallav Jain, co-COO, will continue, in their capacity, to lead the agency.

The company is slated to operate under the name, SMG Convonix.

Commenting on the acquisition, Laura Desmond, Global Chief Executive Officer for Starcom MediaVest Group, said, “combined with our existing talent in the market, this deal will strengthen our offering to ensure we are the market leaders in digital."

Convonix, established in 2003, has evolved from being the first Search Engine Optimization (SEO) organisation in India, to becoming an Integrated Digital Marketing Solutions provider, the release said, with clients like Taj Hotels, Reliance Industries, Kotak Mahindra Group, etc.

"Aligning with SMG gives us global scale and a more powerful face to the market which we can leverage to constantly improve our offering and give our clients the best tools and solutions available,” Vishal Sampat, CEO, Convonix said.

The transaction will bring together Convonix's strength in search, social and analytics along with Starcom's strength in media strategy, the press release said.

The news follows a number of recent acquisitions announced by Publicis Groupe in India and comes as a part of its strategic commitment to expand its operations across India and double its size in India between 2010 and 2015.