MAM
Cohn & Wolfe expands India ops; buys majority stake in Six Degrees PR
MUMBAI: WPP’s Cohn & Wolfe is looking at expanding its India operations and has agreed to acquire a majority stake in full-service public relations agency Six Degrees PR and its content and integrated marketing subsidiary Alphabet Consulting, with offices in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
With this, Cohn & Wolfe’s existing business will become part of Cohn & Wolfe Six Degrees.
Six Degress PR co-founders Rishi Seth and Zacharia James will become Group CEOs, leading the Cohn & Wolfe Six Degrees team of 70 professionals across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. The duo will report to Cohn & Wolfe CEO Donna Imperato.
Additionally, Six Degrees CEO Karan Punia will become CEO of the new company, reporting to Seth and James.
Part of an aggressive growth plan in the region, the deal builds on Cohn & Wolfe’s Mumbai and Delhi offering and solidifies the agency’s Asia-Pacific presence by growing its footprint in the region to 11 offices.
Founded in 2009, Six Degrees is known for its consulting approach, counseling C-Suite clients on challenges across the communications spectrum. Six Degrees has extensive public relations, public affairs, crisis management and digital media experience and delivers content and integrated marketing campaigns through subsidiary Alphabet Consulting.
“India is a strategic priority for Cohn & Wolfe, and Six Degrees has the entrepreneurial culture, seasoned talent and drive to succeed that will help us capitalize on the tremendous opportunity for growth here. The agency’s presence in Bangalore, the country’s technology hub, and their work in technology, finance and corporate complements the Cohn & Wolfe India team’s extensive lifestyle and consumer experience,” said Imperato.
“We believe that Cohn & Wolfe is the best partner for the culture, passion and energy of Six Degrees and Alphabet Consulting. We are excited to start this new journey to make a bigger play for growth through integrated marketing services,” added Seth.
“Our measure of success is having built a reputation for being amongst the most respected PR firms in India. Alignment to a global agency with a strong people orientation and methodologies is the next logical step in our journey. We believe Cohn & Wolfe will provide us the required impetus to build on our success, stay relevant to our people’s aspirations and become a global partner to our clients with a full service offering,” said James.
Cohn & Wolfe, which opened offices in Delhi and Mumbai in 2012, represents clients across a range of industries and is particularly known for its leading travel and tourism practice. Cohn & Wolfe India doubled revenues in 2014 with key clients including Austrian Airlines, Cleartrip, Lufthansa Passenger Airlines, RCI, Ruckus Wireless, Swiss International Air Lines and Wyndham Hotel Group.
Six Degrees’ current clients include companies such as Amadeus, Cushman & Wakefield, Dalmia Bharat Group, Hughes, Ingersoll Rand and Nokia.
MAM
Dish TV shareholders approve three independent directors
99.49 per cent vote of confidence strengthens board as company expands into connected TV, e-commerce and OTT.
MUMBAI: Dish TV has just been served a near-perfect vote of confidence and the shareholders have dished it out in style. Shareholders of the DTH operator have approved the appointment of three new Independent Directors with an overwhelming 99.49 per cent approval. The three appointees are Mr Arun Kumar Kapoor, Ms Heena Naishadh Bhatt and Mr Ashok Anant Paranjpe.
The strong mandate reflects continued investor faith in the company’s strategy, disciplined execution and long-term value creation. It comes as Dish TV focuses on stabilising its core DTH business while actively scaling new verticals connected TV platform VZY, B2B e-commerce ShopZop, and OTT service Watcho to build a more diversified and resilient growth trajectory.
Dish TV India Limited, CEO & executive director Manoj Dhobhal said, “We are encouraged by the shareholders’ approval of the appointment of the Independent Directors and sincerely thank them for their continued trust and confidence. The Board is already benefiting from the Directors’ collective experience, which will further sharpen strategic focus and support disciplined execution.”
With a fresh, strengthened board in place, Dish TV is well positioned to navigate the evolving media landscape. In a sector where every percentage point matters, a 99.49 per cent thumbs-up is the kind of ringing endorsement that suggests the company’s recipe for the future is already tasting right.
