Publicis, Havas pursue Madison World in independent acquisition talks for majority stake: Report

The India units of French advertising and communications companies Publicis Groupe and Havas Network are in separate negotiations to acquire a majority stake in Sam Balsara's Madison World advertising business, according to media reports.

Madison World, established by Balsara in March 1988, remains the only major independent advertising and communications group in India, while competitors such as Ogilvy, McCann, Dentsu and Saatchi & Saatchi operate under global advertising conglomerates. Lara Balsara, Sam's daughter, serves as executive director of Madison World.

Industry executives familiar with the discussions revealed in the report, that Balsara is seeking to sell a significant portion of his advertising business to align with global networks and strengthen his overall operations.

The company reported estimated gross billings of ₹5,000 crore in fiscal 2024. Indian agencies typically charge 15-20% as fees from billings.

Madison World's portfolio extends beyond media buying and planning to include creative advertising under Loop, public relations, entertainment through Mates, outdoor advertising and sports marketing via PMG Sports.

Reports indicate that previous negotiations with other groups failed due to valuation disagreements. A decade ago, Madison held discussions with WPP Group and Japan's Dentsu regarding the sale of up to 75% stake in its media buying and outdoor business, but could not finalise a deal.

The renewed interest from French advertising groups appears to have been sparked by Omnicom Group's recent acquisition of Interpublic Group (IPG), creating a global advertising powerhouse. This merger, which brings together agencies like McCann, Lowe Lintas, FCB and DDB Mudra, could potentially disrupt other major groups including Publicis, WPP, Havas and Dentsu.

Last year, Publicis Groupe surpassed WPP to become the world's largest advertising and communications group. Its network includes agencies such as Publicis, Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi and Digitas, with major Indian clients including PepsiCo, Diageo and Skoda.

Havas India operates 25 agencies across creative, media and health verticals, serving blue-chip clients including Reckitt, Tata Motors and Swiggy.

In October 2022, the Balsara family completely divested from MediaCom, a media agency established in 2008 as a joint venture with WPP Group in which the Balsaras held 51%. They sold 25% in 2017 and the remaining stake in October 2022 to WPP.