Gour Gupta, the former CEO of Madison World’s outdoor advertising arm, has acquired a 51 per cent stake in Clear Channel Mudra for an undisclosed amount.
Gupta bought US-based Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc’s stake in the venture where DDB Mudra Pvt Ltd, owned by Omnicom Group Inc, will continue as a partner with a minority stake. The company has now been renamed Ignite Mudra.
Confirming the development to VCCircle, Gupta said, “Ignite Mudra is a future-ready organisation. The division will create brand solutions as an answer to the challenges faced by advertisers.”
Gupta will take over as managing director and CEO of Ignite Mudra. He had earlier headed Platinum Communications Pvt Ltd, the outdoor arm of Madison Communications Pvt Ltd, also known as Madison World.
Ignite Mudra calls itself a through-the-line agency that focuses on out-of-home advertising, promotions and retail marketing.
The agency has 38 clients and will continue to work for customers including Patanjali Ayurved, ITC, Budweiser, Bata, Godrej, Honda, Reliance Jio, Snapdeal, Sony and Telenor.
DDB Mudra launched Clear Channel Mudra in 2009 as a specialist venture in partnership with Clear Channel Outdoor.
At the time, Adille J Sumariwalla, chairman and managing director of Clear Channel Mumbai, was appointed as MD and CEO of the venture.
Gupta’s acquisition comes at a time when DDB Mudra Group is facing tough competition following the exit of Pratap Bose, who was the agency’s COO, in April 2014. Bose launched his own independent agency, The Social Street, in June this year.
Bose launched the agency along with three partners—Mandeep Malhotra, a former president of Mudra Communications; Arjun Reddy, an entrepreneur; and Pradeep Uppalapati, a former senior director at Accenture.