Cohn & Wolfe acquires majority stake in Six Degrees PR & Alphabet Consulting

The move is to deepen the India offering of WPP's brand communications agency, which now increases its footprint in the region to 11 offices

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | September 30, 2015

Cohn & Wolfe, the brand communications agency from WPP, is acquiring a majority stake in public relations agency Six Degrees PR and its content and integrated marketing subsidiary Alphabet Consulting, with offices in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Part of an aggressive growth plan in the region, the deal builds on Cohn & Wolfe's Mumbai and Delhi offering and solidifies the agency's Asia-Pacific presence by growing its footprint in the region to 11 offices.

Six Degrees Co-Founders Rishi Seth and Zacharia James will become Group CEOs, leading the Cohn & Wolfe Six Degrees team of 70 professionals across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, and will report to Donna Imperato, CEO, Cohn & Wolfe. Six Degrees CEO Karan Punia will now become CEO of the new company, reporting to Seth and James.

Commenting on the development, Imperato said, “India is a strategic priority for Cohn & Wolfe, and Six Degrees has the entrepreneurial culture, seasoned talent and drive to succeed that will help us capitalise on the tremendous opportunity for growth here. The agency's presence in Bangalore, the country's technology hub, and their work in technology, finance and corporate complements the Cohn & Wolfe India team's extensive lifestyle and consumer experience.”

“We believe that Cohn & Wolfe is the best partner for the culture, passion and energy of Six Degrees and Alphabet Consulting. We are excited to start this new journey to make a bigger play for growth through integrated marketing services,” said Seth.

James added here, “Our measure of success is having built a reputation for being amongst the most respected PR firms in India. Alignment to a global agency with a strong people orientation and methodologies is the next logical step in our journey. We believe Cohn & Wolfe will provide us the required impetus to build on our success, stay relevant to our people's aspirations and become a global partner to our clients with a full service offering.”

Cohn & Wolfe, which opened offices in Delhi and Mumbai in 2012, represents clients across a range of industries, particularly travel and tourism. Cohn & Wolfe India doubled revenues in 2014 with key clients, including Austrian Airlines, Cleartrip, Lufthansa Passenger Airlines, RCI, Ruckus Wireless, Swiss International Air Lines and Wyndham Hotel Group. Cohn & Wolfe's existing business will become part of Cohn & Wolfe Six Degrees.

Founded in 2009, Six Degrees represents clients across multiple sectors, including technology, travel, infrastructure, manufacturing, finance, aviation, hospitality and entertainment. Current clients include regional and multinational companies such as Amadeus, Cushman & Wakefield, Dalmia Bharat Group, Hughes, Ingersoll Rand and Nokia.

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