MAM
Publicis, WPP looking to acquire Aegis
MUMBAI: Marketing and communications services firm Publicis Groupe has in a statement confirmed that it is holding preliminary talks to acquire the London based marketing services firm Aegis Group.
Aegis’ research services are considered important at a time when consumers’ changing viewing habits on television are forcing planners and buyers to re-evaluate their strategies to an extent.
One factor for Publicis is the role of Japanese agency Dentsu which owns a 15 per cent stake in Publicis. Dentsu had in the past been keen to acquire Aegis. Dentsu obtained the 15 per cent stake when it helped Publicis acquire Bcom3 several years ago.
At the same time media reports indicate that the WPP Group is in talks with French financier and Havas chairman Vincent Bolloré to make a joint bid along with San Francisco-based investment group Hellman & Friedman for Aegis Group. Aegis is believed to be worth around $2.82 billion. The deal will mean further consolidation in the media sector. Aegis owns the media agency Carat among other entities.
Bolloré is already the largest Aegis shareholder with a nearly 25 per cent stake. Any deal to acquire Aegis by a third party other than Bolloré would require his nod because the one-quarter interest gives him the right to veto a sale of the company under British takeover laws.
In a statement Aegis said that it had received an approach at an indicative level of 140 pence per Aegis share. “However, the approach is preliminary in nature and there can be no certainty that an offer will be made.” WPP is said to have a deadline of 25 November 2005 to make a formal bid.
Should a deal go through the ramifications are major. If Publicis acquires Aegis it would control 36 per cent of the global media buying market. Recma data meanwhile shows that while WPP’s combined media services units – MindShare, Mediaedge:cia, and MediaCom – make it the biggest holding company, Omnicom’s OMD unit is now the biggest planner and buyer of media in the world with a 9.5 per cent share of the total marketplace. Publicis’ Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) ranks second with a 9.1 per cent share, followed by WPP’s MindShare with an 8.8 per cent share.
Aegis’ Carat ranks fourth with an 8.1 per cent share, followed by WPP’s Mediaedge:cia with a seven per cent share, and Publicis’ ZenithOptimedia Group with a 6.9 per cent share. ZenithOptimedia had the greatest growth in 2005 with estimated billings rising 15.7 per cent over 2004, while Omnicom’s PHD unit saw billings fall by 3.5 per cent from 2004.
Digital
Galleri5 launches India’s first AI cinema OS at India AI Summit
Collective Artists Network unveils end-to-end production platform powering Mahabharat series and Hanuman teaser.
MUMBAI: India’s cinema just got an AI operating system upgrade because why settle for tools when you can have a full production command centre? Collective Artists Network and Galleri5 today unveiled Galleri5 AI Studio at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, billing it as the country’s first cinema-native production technology platform. Launched on 20 February 2026, the system acts as an end-to-end orchestration layer for film and television, integrating generative AI, LoRA-driven character architecture, controlled shot pipelines, 3D/VFX tools, lip-sync, upscaling, quality control, and delivery, all tuned for theatrical and broadcast standards.
Unlike piecemeal AI tools, Galleri5 controls the entire stack from script and world-building to final master output. Filmmakers retain creative authorship, continuity, and IP security while slashing timelines from years to months.
The platform is already in live use at scale. Mahabharat: Ek Dharmayudh, an AI-powered series produced under Collective’s Historyverse banner, is airing on Star Plus and streaming on JioHotstar, ranking among the top-watched shows in its slot. Meanwhile, Chiranjeevi Hanuman – The Eternal (produced by Star Studios 18) dropped its teaser on IMAX screens, leveraging Galleri5’s infrastructure for the visuals.
Collective Artists Network founder and group CEO Vijay Subramaniam said, “For India to lead in the next era of storytelling, we have to think beyond tools and start building systems. This is about putting durable production infrastructure in place so creators can dream bigger, producers can execute faster, and our stories can travel further.”
Galleri5 partner at Collective and CEO Rahul Regulapati added, “Cinema requires precision, repeatability, and control. Off-the-shelf AI doesn’t solve that. Orchestration does. We built an operating system where technology bends to filmmaking, not the other way around.”
Under Historyverse, Collective Studios is developing a slate including Hanuman, Krishna, Shiva, and Shivaji blending advanced AI systems with traditional craft. The summit session featured directors from Hanuman, Krishna, and Shiva alongside Collective leaders, diving into real-world case studies: what delivers on screen, what glitches, and how production economics are shifting.
At a summit packed with global tech brass and policymakers, Galleri5 stakes a bold claim, cinema’s future belongs to integrated systems, not isolated gadgets and India is building one right now. Whether you’re a filmmaker eyeing faster workflows or just curious about AI remaking epics, this OS could be the script-flip the industry didn’t see coming.
