Dentsu Inc.'s overseas headquarters, Dentsu Aegis Network, has reached an agreement with shareholders of India's largest OOH (out-of-home/transportation advertising) specialist advertising company, Milestone Brandcom Pvt. Ltd. (Headquarters: Mumbai, hereinafter "Milestone"), regarding the acquisition of a 51% stake. The Dentsu Group also holds an option to gradually increase its shareholding and make Milestone a wholly-owned subsidiary.
The acquisition is expected to be completed in approximately one month, pending approval under competition law from the relevant Indian authorities.
Founded in 2009, Milestone possesses a nationwide network enabling business expansion across India. It provides advertising communication services, primarily OOH, to over 100 clients across various industries. Recognized not only for the scale of its media buying but also through numerous industry awards, it stands as India's largest OOH advertising agency in both name and reality.
The Dentsu Group in India has established a strong position in branding, creative services, search-linked advertising, digital media, and the activation domain—the fastest-growing segment currently—which drives actual actions such as field marketing, store visits, purchases, and recommendations.
In the OOH domain, the addition of India's largest OOH-specialized advertising agency to the Dentsu Group's existing operations through Posterscope further solidifies its position as the country's largest corporate group in terms of OOH media buying power.
According to Carat, the Dentsu Group's media communications agency, which released its Indian advertising expenditure report in March 2014, India's advertising expenditure grew 8.1% year-on-year in 2013. OOH advertising expenditure showed 11.5% growth and is projected to continue growing at around 10% in 2014 and 2015.
Dentsu Inc. News Release
http://www.dentsu.co.jp/news/release/2014/0728-003787.html
