AD Agencies
Bates CHI&Partners to acquire Temple Advertising
MUMBAI: Bates CHI&Partners announces it has agreed to acquire the business and assets of Temple Advertising, a boutique advertising agency based in Bangalore.
“Bates CHI&Partners defined business mission is to create big Ideas for ambitious brands,” said Bates CHI&Partners CEO David Mayo. “In developing our strategy in India we are building a creative network with scale,” he added. “Temple is a renowned creative agency with a strong reputation and a broad vision of the world and with them around the table, we will deliver on this promise.”
Temple is a Bangalore-based advertising boutique agency co-founded in 2004 by Manmohan Anchan, Vidur Vohra and Srikanth VS.
Srikanth VS will become CEO and Manmohan Anchan will become CCO of Bates CHI&Partners in India and they will jointly assume the role of managing partner of the group overseeing all five Bates CHI&Partners offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and Dhaka.
Srikanth said, “We are incredibly excited to be part of a new agency set up in a new India environment and we hope to capture this new mood to build our business.”
To underline the partnership and collaboration principles of this company, the agencies in Bangalore will merge and become Bates CHI&Temple, with the rest of the network retaining the original Bates CHI&Partners branding.
Anchan said, “At Temple, we pride ourselves on our work. If it sells, it’s working. If it builds a brand, it’s working. We don’t create work for clients or juries, we create work that works. The time is right for a new agency in India to give variety to the current order of things.”
Temple has worked with clients across diverse categories such as automotive, education, fashion and retail, FMCG, foods, media & entertainment, real estate and technology. Their clients include Embassy Group, eTV Kannada, Future Lifestyle Fashions (including Indigo Nation, Scullers, Manchester United, Jealous21), Pearson Education, Reliance Trends, Sumeru Frozen Foods, TVS Motors, Vaswani Group and Wipro Technologies.
AD Agencies
Publicis posts €4.19bn Q1 revenue, 6.4 per cent growth; backs FY outlook
Ad giant signals Q2 acceleration as AI and new deals power momentum
PARIS: Publicis Groupe continues to outperform the industry, delivering a strong start to 2026 under Chairman and CEO Arthur Sadoun. Despite a volatile global macro environment, the company has now outpaced the industry for nearly 20 consecutive quarters.
For Q1 2026, total revenue reached €4,191 million, up from €4,161 million last year, with organic growth of 6.4 per cent. Net revenue, which excludes pass-through costs, stood at €3,460 million, reflecting organic growth of 4.5 per cent.
Exchange rates had a negative impact of €268 million, mainly due to a weaker US dollar and pound sterling. Acquisitions, including Adge.AI and 160over90, contributed an additional €46 million.
Performance across regions was largely positive, with some variation:
- North America, accounting for 59 per cent of net revenue, grew 4.7 per cent
- Europe recorded growth of 3.9 per cent, led by the UK at 6.2 per cent, while France grew 1.6 per cent
- Asia Pacific posted 5.9 per cent growth, driven by China at 11.7 per cent
- Latin America grew 13.3 per cent
- Middle East and Africa declined 5.1 per cent due to geopolitical challenges
AI-powered marketing services, which now make up 86 per cent of the business, grew 5.6 per cent. However, the technology segment, representing 14 per cent of revenue, declined slightly as clients reduced spending on large-scale transformation projects.
Sharing his outlook, Publicis Groupe chairman and CEO Arthur Sadoun said, “Publicis had a very strong start to the year, outperforming the industry for almost 20 quarters in a row despite the volatile macro environment. Organic revenue growth reached 6.4%, leading to 4.5% in net and further increasing the gap with our peers.” He added that the company remains confident of delivering industry-leading performance. “We are confirming our industry-leading organic growth guidance of 4 to 5%, with the 4% rock solid, and a sequential organic growth acceleration in Q2 despite a higher comparable.”
Publicis continued its expansion with the acquisition of Adge.AI in March, followed by 160over90 in April to strengthen its sports and culture marketing capabilities.
Net financial debt stood at €1,156 million at the end of March, reflecting a seasonal shift from the net cash position at the end of 2025. Average net debt over the past twelve months was €1,035 million.
The company has reaffirmed its full-year guidance, expecting net revenue organic growth of 4 to 5 per cent in 2026. It also anticipates an operating margin slightly above 18.2 per cent and free cash flow of approximately €2.1 billion.
With expectations of stronger performance in the second quarter, Publicis remains well positioned to sustain its growth momentum.
