January 29, 2008 16:38 ET

WPP's JWT Acquires Majority Stake in India's Encompass Events Pvt. Ltd.

SINGAPORE--(Marketwire - January 29, 2008) - WPP has acquired a majority stake in Encompass, India's leading independent brand activation, events and content creation agency. Encompass will be aligned with JWT to ensure a smooth and rapid transition.

JWT president Michael Maedel, who is based in Singapore, said Encompass co-founder and managing director Roshan Abbas and co-founder and CEO Sukrit Singh will remain in their positions, as they have been integral to Encompass' success. "JWT has been working with Encompass on several client engagements, and this transaction is a natural extension of our established relationship," noted Maedel. "JWT is the leader in marketing activation in China, and this acquisition extends our leadership in another key growth market."

Founded in 1996, Encompass now has more than 240 employees working in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Singapore. Clients include HSBC, Nokia, GSK, Pepsi, Accenture, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft and Ford.

Encompass uses innovative methods to activate and engage customers in a country with more than 1 billion people. It has built a niche in one-to-one activation by establishing college contact programs, mall activations, rural events, in-store promotions and mobile road shows.

"At JWT, our mission is to ensure that our clients remain market leaders. The fully integrated campaigns we create include digital and event components," said Colvyn Harris, CEO of JWT India. "Encompass is an incredibly creative company, both dynamic and results-oriented. Our partnership with them will help us bring brand experiences to life and ensure that our solutions are market-leading. I'm excited to work with them."

"For over 10 years, we have focused on bringing brands to life as experiences," said Abbas. "We will continue to focus on engaging customers in new and exciting ways, but now we will have a world-class network to support our growth initiatives."

"Working under the JWT umbrella is a tremendous opportunity to expand our business," Singh added. "We look forward to continuing to support our current clients' needs while building new business relationships with JWT."

About JWT

JWT is India's largest integrated communications company with interests in advertising, digital, activation, public relations, direct marketing, design, social and rural communications. It operates through offices in six cities and partners with India's best and most admired blue-chip clients, including Airtel, Bharti Retail, Pepsico, Frito-Lay, ITC, Hindustan Lever, Hero Honda, GSK Consumer Healthcare, Sony Vaio, Sony Bravia, Nike, Nestle, Levi's, Pizza Hut, Diamond Trading Co., Kellogg's, Tesco, Exide, Ford and GE.

JWT works with 26 of the top 100 "Superbrands" as ranked by Superbrands India and nine of the top 25 Most Trusted Brands in India as per the Economic Times Brand Equity Survey.