Japanese firm DAN acquires Mumbai-based Fractal Ink in Rs 200-crore deal

The agreement, will add DAN nearly a 70-strong design team to its digital offering in the country

Japanese advertising giant Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) has made its third acquisition in India in four months, snapping up Mumbai-based digital design studio Fractal Ink in an estimated Rs 200-crore deal. The agreement, which was signed on Thursday evening, will see DAN add nearly a 70-strong design team to its digital offering in the country, which is already 1,000-people strong.

Specifically, Fractal Ink will join DAN’s existing digital marketing agency Isobar, adding heft to the latter’s portfolio, Ashish Bhasin, chairman and chief executive officer South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network, said. 

“I remain bullish about digital in India and this acquisition will help strengthen our capability in digital design and technology. As digital communication evolves in India, the work that studios such as Fractal Ink are doing will only grow. It was important for us to fill this gap,” he said.

With Fractal Ink, DAN has made at least seven key acquisitions in the past four years in India, outlining the importance it accords to the market here. Among DAN’s key buys include that of creative hotshop Taproot and digital consultancy Communicate 2 in 2012; digital agency Webchutney in 2013, social media specialist WATConsult in 2015 and PR agency Perfect Relations and ad agency Happy Creative Services in 2016.

Bhasin admitted he was not over yet with acquisitions and could look at more in the new year. Industry sources say possible areas that DAN could target include health care marketing, shopper marketing and content production. 

While the Japanese major has been in the Indian market for a while now, in terms of acquisitions it has only come into its own in the last few years. The group now ranks among the key networks in the country, ranked among the top five which includes the likes of WPP, IPG, Omnicom and Publicis.

2016, in particular, saw DAN become bold in terms of acquisitions, snapping up Perfect Relations in a surprise deal in September. That transaction was pegged at over Rs 200-250 crore owing to the clout that Perfect Relations brought to the table in PR. 

Bengaluru-based Happy Creative Services, also known for its work for e-commerce major Flipkart, was a comparatively smaller deal at around Rs 150 crore, according to industry estimates, with DAN making Happy a part of its global McGarryBowen network of creative agencies.