MAM
WPP Digital acquires majority stake in Acceleration
MUMBAI: Media communications group WPP‘s digital arm WPP Digital has bought majority stakes in the two holding companies of marketing technology firm Acceleration.
The two holding companies are Guernsey island-based Acceleration Holdings Ltd and South Africa-based Acceleration eMarketing Limited.
Acceleration‘s combined audited revenues for the year ended 31 December 2011 were US$16.8 million.
The acquisition is part of WPP‘s continued efforts to enhance its digital portfolio. WPP‘s annual digital revenues are almost US$4.8 billion, which is more than 30 per cent of the group‘s total revenue of US$16 billion. WPP‘s target is to have 35-40 per cent of revenues from digital in the next five years.
Acceleration, which was founded in 1999, has offices in Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Dubai, Johannesburg, London and New York and employee strength of 148 marketing technologists.
Acceleration provides services that help clients architect, implement and orchestrate digital marketing and publishing technologies to enhance their digital business initiatives. Its clients include Celebrity Cruises, The Economist, South African Tourism and UEFA.
MAM
Beacon Group appoints Dr Rajesh Patel as Group CEO
36-year healthcare veteran to lead Beacon Diagnostics, Vector Biotek, Biogeny.
MUMBAI: A new chief, a fresh diagnosis and a sharper prescription for growth. Beacon Group has appointed Dr Rajesh Patel as its Group Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1, 2026, signalling a decisive push to scale its presence in the diagnostics and IVD space. Patel steps into the role with 36 years of experience across the healthcare and diagnostics industry, bringing a career shaped by leadership roles spanning sales, marketing, business development and operational strategy. His mandate is both expansive and precise: to steer the group’s overall strategic direction while tightening coordination across its three core entities Beacon Diagnostics, Vector Biotek and Biogeny Diagnostics.
In practical terms, that means driving cross-company synergies, accelerating market expansion and strengthening organisational capability areas increasingly critical as diagnostic players compete for scale in a fragmented yet rapidly evolving healthcare ecosystem. The group is positioning itself to capture unmet demand across chain laboratories, key accounts and standalone labs, segments that remain underserved despite growing diagnostic needs.
The appointment comes at a time when the In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) sector in India is entering a more competitive and innovation-led phase, with companies focusing not just on product pipelines but also on service delivery, integration and customer-centric models. Beacon’s leadership appears to be betting that Patel’s execution-focused approach can help translate ambition into operational momentum.
Welcoming the appointment, Chairman Dr D K Joshi described Patel’s induction as a strategic move aligned with the group’s long-term vision, emphasising the role of leadership depth in navigating the next phase of growth.
For Beacon Group, the message is clear, in a sector where precision matters, leadership is the new differentiator—and this appointment is intended to set the tone for what comes next.
