Actively evaluating opportunities: Saurabh Varma on Wondrlab’s Madison acquisition talks

New Delhi: Wondrlab, the mar-tech network, is in talks to acquire Madison, sources confirmed the development to BestMediaInfo.com.

In an official statement, Saurabh Varma, Founder & CEO, Wondrlab Network, said, “We are actively evaluating opportunities and are in discussions with multiple companies across capabilities that strengthen our platform-first, full-funnel marketing and technology offering.”

Varma added, “We have consistently stated that Wondrlab is building for scale, and acquisitions remain an important part of that strategy.”

Further, the agency stated that any development will be communicated at the appropriate time.

In 2025, Wondrlab completed its seventh acquisition as part of an ambitious plan to acquire 26 agencies across three phases.

As per a separate news report, Sam Balsara, the founder of Madison, is said to be selling the agency for Rs 1000 crore. 

If Wondrlab acquisition of Madison becomes official, it will become the largest acquisition of an Indian agency by another Indian agency.

Wondrlab was launched in November 2020 by Saurabh Varma, Vandana Verma, and Rakesh Hinduja.

Wondrlab's first acquisition came quickly, with the purchase of Amit Akali’s creative agency, What’s Your Problem (WYP), in December 2020.

Following this, Wondrlab embarked on an acquisition spree, acquiring influencer marketing company Opportune and performance marketing agency Neon in 2022, as well as Salesforce consultancy and data analytics firm Cymetrix and Polish agency WebTalk in 2023, marking its entry into the European market.

It then acquired another influencer marketing agency, OPA. Last year, Wondrlab acquired a majority stake in BigStep Technologies, a Generative AI and Cloud-Native Custom Software Solutions company.

The prospect of a sale has hovered over Madison for years, with global majors such as WPP, Publicis and Dentsu exploring potential deals. In May 2025, Havas emerged as the frontrunner with a reported Rs 700-crore offer for a majority stake.

As per earlier news reports, Madison had sought close to Rs 1,000 crore for a controlling stake, nearly double the Rs 500-crore valuation he had discussed with WPP in 2015.

The deal with WPP nearly a decade ago collapsed over valuation and equity issues, while similar talks with Publicis and Dentsu also failed to materialise.

Madison remains one of India’s most storied advertising agencies, long celebrated for building marquee brands across FMCG, retail and lifestyle categories.