By Greg Hazley
Ketchum has acquired a majority stake in India’s Sampark PR, following recent deals in China and Russia by the Omnicom unit.
Bela and N.S. Rajan |
Seventeen-year-old Sampark has seven offices and is led by founders Bela Rajan and N.S. Rajan, wife and husband, who will continue to head the business, renamed Ketchum Sampark, with a “significant holding” stake. Ketchum international CEO Jon Higgins and Omnicom’s Diversified Agency Services CEO Tom Harrison will take board seats of the Indian operation.
Based in Mumbai, it counts 125 staffers and also has a network of 80 associate offices throughout the country. The firm has worked with Ketchum in the past.
“India occupies a powerful place in the world economy today,” said Higgins.
Ketchum noted an Indian chamber of commerce study that pegged PR industry growth at 32 percent in the country. CEO Ray Kotcher said the deal is part of the firm’s “global vision.”
Ketchum’s overseas fortification began last year with the closing of its merger with Europe-based Pleon. In January, it took a majority stake in its 22-year-old China affiliate Newscan after a similar move in Russia in October 2010.
Sampark clients have included Union Carbide, Qatar Airways, Kodak, Siemens and Supreme Petrochem.
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