Havas Announces Majority Stake Acquisition in PR Pundit in India
Havas has announced the acquisition of a majority stake in PR Pundit, the PR consultancy firm. With this strategic action, Havas Red, Havas’ global PR network, makes its debut in the thriving Indian market. The company will be rebranded as PR Pundit Havas Red upon closing. With 25 years of experience, PR Pundit is a company that specializes in corporate communications and brand positioning. With three offices in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, the company employs 160 PR professionals.
Havas’ Acquisition of PR Pundit
For a while now, PR Pundit has been an important Havas affiliate in India. With this acquisition, Havas strengthens its partnership and expands its capacities to provide public relations services in India as part of its array of media, creative, and healthcare offerings. Simultaneously, the network’s global clientele gains significant new geographic reach and expertise from Havas Red’s ongoing international expansion. With the launch of Havas Red South Africa earlier this year, the company’s foray into the Indian market represents its second addition for 2023.
Leadership roles
PR Pundit’s founder and managing director, Archana Jain, will continue to oversee PR Pundit Havas Red. She will report to James Wright, CEO of Havas Red, and Rana Barua, Group CEO of Havas India.
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Here’s what they said
Yannick Bolloré, Chairman and Global CEO, Havas said
We are thrilled to welcome PR Pundit to the Havas family. The synergies between PR Pundit’s expertise, Havas India’s clients, and the global PR clients of Havas Red are exceptionally strong, setting the stage for many meaningful collaborations. With the backing of Vivendi and their extensive entertainment assets in India, the expansion into PR, communications and social media is a strategic move that aligns perfectly with the evolving landscape of the market and industry.
Archana Jain, Founder and Managing of PR Pundit added,
Joining Havas will enable us to enrich our services and geographic reach for the benefit of our clients. We are excited to lend our expertise and entrepreneurial drive as well as share our local PR understanding with Havas Red in our common goal of undertaking benchmarking work and fostering long term partnerships, with our people and clients. Our relationship is based on shared values to elevate service capabilities, open doors to new opportunities and embrace best practices from around the world.
Rana Barua, Group CEO of Havas India, commented,
This acquisition once again reinforces our commitment of delivering comprehensive and impactful solutions to our clients. In our endeavour to offer integrated end-to-end communication solutions, we identified that the PR function was a missing piece. This acquisition brings together, two extremely powerful entities, Havas Red which has presence across 15 global markets with unmatched influence and reach, and PR Pundit, one of the most respected PR agencies in India with unparalleled brand reputation and a robust clientele. I welcome team PR Pundit to the Havas India family. Together with Havas Red, I look forward to the beginning of an exciting journey.
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