GroupM acquires majority stake in MediaCom India

Sam Balsara, who held majority stake in the agency, will become a minority partner

The media arm of WPP, the world’s largest marketing communications company, said on Tuesday said it would be acquiring a controlling stake in MediaCom India, an agency best-known for holding the Procter & Gamble (P&G) media business.

The move is significant since this will mean that GroupM, WPP’s media unit, will manage the media duties of two of the largest consumer goods companies — Hindustan Unilever and P&G — in the country. GroupM is India's largest media agency network.

For the past eight years, MediaCom India operated as a joint venture between GroupM and media agency veteran Sam Balsara, who had a