ASIA-PACIFIC – MUMBAI, INDIA, NOVEMBER 8, 2011: Lintas Media Group has completed its acquisition of Aaren Initiative, the country’s premier OOH agency that works for Hindustan Unilever and Nokia, among other blue chip accounts.
Aaren Initiative Outdoor was set up as a 50-50 joint venture between Lintas and Aaren ten years ago when the presence of media agencies in the medium was still unknown. Aaren Initiative was a pioneer in the space, professionalizing media planning, buying and monitoring in this relatively unorganized medium, and grew rapidly into a large agency billing over Rs 150 crores annually, with offices in 28 cities and a network of over 100 employees.
The 50% stake held by the joint venture partner, Aaren Advertising, has been recently purchased by Lintas. The name of the agency will be changed to Lintas Initiative.
Lynn de Souza, Chairman and CEO of Lintas Media Group and Chairman of Aaren Initiative will continue to be the Chairman of the wholly owned agency. She said, “Through this acquisition we hope to work with many more global clients and have made plans to invest in the right tools and people to transform Lintas Initiative Outdoor into a future ready OOH and retail player. We are grateful to our erstwhile partners, Aaren, for all their counsel and support during the formative years of the agency”.
Hemanth Shah will continue to function as the Managing Director. Elaborating on his role, Shah said, “The team shall have the independence to function and nurture non-network clients and the network clients shall experience seamless deliveries. The acquisition allows for the company to plan holistic solutions and integrate them into its offerings right from creative to all-media.”
