INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - NOVEMBER 16^th - NOVEMBER 30^th - 2007

WPP DIGITAL BUYS 75% STAKE IN QUASAR

WPP Digital has announced that it has acquired a 75% stake in Quasar Media, a subsidiary of the 100% promoter-held Smile Interactive Technology Group, which specialises in digital marketing and web solutions. Quasar, however, will continue to be managed by its founding team, led by Harish Bahl and Manish Vij.

Speaking on the acquisition, WPP Digital CEO Mark Read said: "It's all about Quasar's leadership in the digital media industry that makes it attractive. It's probably India's leading interactive agency and we bought 75% for longerterm play. With our stake in Quasar, we can now even think of offshoring options that weren't available earlier. In India, we believe that digital media will grow to $560-million representing almost 7% of the total ad expenditure by 2009," says Mr. Read.

Quasar, founded in 2005, provides services in digital media, creative, ebusiness solution, search marketing and optimisation, mobile marketing and e-commerce, social media, besides others. Though Harish Bahl, CEO & founder of Smile Interactive, is tightlipped about the turnover of Quasar Media, he claims it clearly occupies 20% of the Rs 550-crore digital media market in the country. At Rs 110-crore, that makes Quasar a force to reckon with in the digital media space. "What attracted WPP was our market share, management team and technology," says Mr Bahl. WPP Digital is the digital investment arm of WPP. It prime goal is to champion digital technologies and new media innovations and to stimulate, support and enhance existing group company activities in this area.

The WPP deal makes Smile Interactive the only group in the country with two MNC joint ventures in the space it operates. "We're in the business of running incubation centres that promote entrepreneurship, and so JVs help each centre to strike the right partnership," says Mr. Bahl.