Publicis Groupe acquires Beehive Communications

This marks Publicis Groupe's 7^th acquisition in India since mid-2012. Beehive is one of India's foremost independent integrated communications agencies specialising in cutting-edge marketing and communications services

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | October 22, 2013

(L-R) Bobby Pawar, Nakul Chopra, Partha Sinha, and B Sanjit Shastri

Publicis Groupe announced today the acquisition of Beehive Communications, one of India's foremost independent integrated communications agencies specialising in cutting-edge marketing and communications services for clients across South Asia. This marks Publicis Groupe's seventh acquisition in the country since mid-2012.

Founded in 2003, Beehive Communications boasts a roster of over 130 employees providing integrated solutions with specialties in creative, reputation management, media, digital, brand activation and research. Beehive's clients include over 50 brands and companies, notably, Malaysia Tourism, General Motors, Korea Tourism, Jubiliant Retail, India Bulls Finance and Bisleri, among others.

Headquartered in Mumbai, the agency also has a presence in Delhi and Bangalore. Known for its ability to build expertise in important vertical markets, as well as its speed and efficiency, Beehive has built a reputation for growing and winning with clients. This acquisition marks another significant step towards Publicis becoming the leading communications network in India.

Beehive will be rebranded as Publicis Beehive and will operate as a unit within Publicis Worldwide's global network. Under the direction of Beehive Founder and CEO Sanjit Shastri, the current leadership team will continue to lead the agency and will now report to Nakul Chopra, CEO of South Asia for Publicis Worldwide.

 “Beehive brings both scale and strategic value to the Publicis offering in India,” said Chopra. “Coming on the heels of our earlier moves, this is another significant step towards realizing our goal of being counted among the top agency networks in India. I look forward to partnering with Sanjit and his team to build a stronger Publicis.”

“We are making significant strides toward achieving our goals in India,” said Jean-Yves Naouri, COO, Publicis Groupe. “By adding Beehive to the Publicis network we will be able to capitalise on a great pool of talent and market potential, as well as strengthen the unparalleled services we provide to our clients.”

“The wealth of experience and the best practices are perhaps the most compelling reasons for us to become a part of Publicis Worldwide," said Shastri. "Our teams will now have the significantly added strength of one of the world's leading communications groups when we meet and interact with clients. We see this translating quickly into excellent winning strategies for our current and prospective clients.”

The Groupe has been working to increase its profile in India, including recent acquisitions of Indigo Consulting (April 2012), Resultrix (August 2012), MarketGate (December 2012), iStrat (December 2012), Convonix (March 2013) and Neev (April 2013).

Publicis Groupe currently counts more than 3,200 permanent employees across India, through the following global networks: BBH, Digitas, Leo Burnett, MSLGROUP, Publicis Healthcare Communications Group, Publicis Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi, Starcom MediaVest Group, and ZenithOptimedia.

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