Dentsu Aegis Network to buy Gurgaon-based digital media network company SVG Media

Britain's digital marketing communications company Dentsu Aegis Network, today struck a deal to buy Gurgaon-based digital media network company SVG Media for an undisclosed sum.

Although the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, The Economic Times reported that Dentsu is said to have paid $110-$125 million (Rs 832-Rs 732 crore) in cash.

Smile Group, promoters of SVG Media, and Silicon Valley-based investment firm Xplorer Capital, hold around 30-35 per cent of the company.

As part of the deal, Dentsu will acquire DGM, Seventynine and Komli brands, while Smile Group will retain Tyroo, the company said in a statement.

Post closing, SVG Media will merge with Dentsu's Asia Pacific digital marketing agency Columbus and be renamed SVG Columbus.

The Smile Group's Harish Bahl and Manish Vij will step down as chairman and CEO of SVG Media, and Anurag Gupta, CEO of DGM, will be the new chief executive of SVG Columbus.
 
"Given its capabilities in data-led search, performance marketing and mobile, SVG Columbus is ideally positioned to capture the fragmented long-tail publisher market in India using technology and data," said Ashish Bhasin, CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia.

Founded in 2006, SVG Media offers digital media services, including online performance marketing, mobile app distribution, representations, social and web services through its flagship brands.

It has one of the largest client bases in the Indian digital media sector with over 700 monthly active advertiser campaigns locally, as well as international clients in Dubai, Indonesia and China, and has annual revenue of around Rs200 crore.

London-based Dentsu Aegis Network is a s a multinational media and digital marketing communications company, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Japanese advertising and public relations firm Dentsu.