MAM
Havas Group India announces senior management elevations
Mumbai: Havas Group India has announced key elevations in its senior management team for Havas Media and Havas Creative. The elevations come as part of the group's overall growth strategy of identifying and acknowledging talent and leaders who have played a crucial role in the growth of the company.
Erstwhile Havas Media managing partner — north and west Uday Mohan has been promoted to president — north and west.
Mohan has been with Havas Media for the last 13 years. He has been instrumental in building the Gurgaon operations of Havas Media Group into one of the largest operations in NCR. In spite a very difficult 2020, he was able to grow both the Gurgaon and Mumbai operations with key client acquisitions like ACC Cement, and most recently the esteemed Domino’s Pizza win.
Havas Media national head buying R Venkatasabubramanian will now be president and national head investments.
Venkat has been associated with Havas Media Group for the last two years. He has been able to put Havas Media Group among the top media buyers in the country and built a very strong investment team across markets.
Havas Creative managing partner – north Manas Lahiri has been elevated to president – north.
Lahiri has been with Havas for over two years and has astutely managed the turnaround of the Gurgaon Creative Operations in one of the most demanding and challenging markets. From stabilising the biggest relationship with Reckitt Benckiser which includes brands like Durex, Vanish, Harpic, Mortein, Veet to acquiring new clients like William Grant & Sons, Suzuki, Fortis, Norton, Hike, and finally Dabur Honey and many others, he has delivered exceptional results.
Mohan and R Venkat will continue to report to Havas Media Group India CEO Mohit Joshi, and Lahiri will continue to report to Havas Group India group CEO Rana Barua.
Rana Barua said “ I am excited to announce well deserved key elevations from our Havas Group Senior Leadership team, that will further accelerate growth and enhance the value proposition of our organisation and take the agency to greater heights. 2020 has been a challenging yet very satisfactory year for the agency in terms of clients, revenue, awards, and fame. I look forward to Uday, Manas and Venkat to soar higher and take us to even greater achievements and targets.”
Brands
UpGrad to acquire Unacademy in share-swap deal, founders confirm
Proposed share-swap could unite two edtech rivals as sector eyes consolidation
MUMBAI: The Indian edtech sector may be inching toward another wave of consolidation, with online learning platform upGrad signing a term sheet to acquire rival Unacademy in an all stock transaction.
If completed, the deal would bring together two of the country’s most prominent education technology companies at a time when the sector is adjusting to slower demand and a sharper focus on profitability after the pandemic driven boom.
UpGrad founder and chairperson Ronnie Screwvala confirmed the development in a post on X, stating that Unacademy co-founder and chief executive Gaurav Munjal would continue to lead the company following the acquisition.
“We at upGrad have signed a term sheet to acquire Unacademy in an all stock deal, with founder and ceo Gaurav Munjal staying on to build Unacademy and focus on what it does best, creating online education products that learners love,” Screwvala wrote.
He added that the agreement includes a break fee provision if the transaction fails to close. Screwvala also said the combined entity could strengthen upGrad’s integrated learning model spanning K12 education, professional training and lifelong learning.
Unacademy confirmed that the proposed transaction will be executed through a 100 per cent share swap, with the valuation to be disclosed only after the deal closes and regulatory filings are completed.
Announcing the development on X, Munjal described the agreement as the beginning of a new chapter for both companies and the wider edtech ecosystem.
He noted that Unacademy had spent the past year reshaping its operations to focus more sharply on online education products. Among the steps taken were consolidating company operated offline centres with franchise partners and launching a Rs 50 crore employee stock ownership plan buyback, in which around 40 per cent of former employees have already participated.
Munjal also highlighted the traction gained by Airlearn, the company’s language learning product, which he said is expanding in markets including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada.
“Our cash reserves as of today are more than $100 million,” he said.
The proposed deal also marks a turnaround from earlier talks between the two companies that had stalled over disagreements on valuation and structure. Previous discussions had placed Unacademy’s valuation in the range of $300 million to $400 million, according to media reports.
If the transaction goes through, Munjal will continue as co-founder and chief executive of Unacademy, focusing on building online learning products for students in India and global markets.
For upGrad, the acquisition would broaden its footprint across the education spectrum, from school level learning to professional upskilling and lifelong education.
The move comes as India’s edtech sector enters a more sober phase after years of rapid expansion. Companies across the industry have been trimming costs, restructuring operations and seeking scale to build more sustainable businesses.
Against that backdrop, the potential combination of upGrad and Unacademy could signal that the next phase of edtech growth may be driven less by blitzscaling and more by strategic partnerships and consolidation.
