Acquisition Tales: How Langoor Havas came about

Recently, Havas Group acquired Langoor, which is being rebranded as Langoor Havas. Here's how it happened and what it means for the two agencies.

The rebranded Langoor Havas, led by its co-founder Venugopal Ganganna, will have three key focus areas going forward — health, business and vernacular. These services will be expanded to markets outside of India in the coming months. Needless to say, a lot is about to change.

In a conversation with Social Samosa, the top leadership of both agencies, Rana Barua, CEO, Havas Group India and Venugopal Ganganna, Chief Digital Officer, Havas Group India, and CEO Langoor Havas, tell us about what lies ahead for them.

Tale behind the acquisition

When Langoor grew to a team of 100+ people, the founders, Girisha Gowda, Kishore Karumbaiah, Ruchir Punjabi and Ganganna sat together and reviewed their business. They agreed and that it was time to initiate conversations with bigger agencies that are looking for true 'digital first' players in India and can also provide a larger canvas of global arenas to play in.

Ganganna tells us, "We looked at someone who has different strengths, which can act as a catalyst for further growth and expansion, as well as boost our existing strengths."

Also Read: Havas Group pursues its expansion in India with its second digital acquisition this year: LANGOOR

On the part of Havas Group, the acquisition strategy was focussed on identifying gaps in their offering and filling it with the right set of abilities in sync with our culture.

"The approach is not a multiplier approach but one of expertise building," says Barua.

For Langoor, Havas' focus to build meaningful brands based on music, content, gaming, creativity seemed to be a good fit for their strength in data, technology, and digital innovation.

"Havas Group becomes larger in scale and adds the right capabilities going forward for clients. We are confident, we will be able to attract more new clients with Langoor Havas, and do innovative, strategic and effective work that helps build our differentiated proposition in a much stronger way in India," adds Barua.

Effect on clients of both agencies

The fact that Langoor operates fundamentally in India is a plus for Havas Group as they aim to deepen their client offerings and strengthen the ability to deliver effective business outcomes for the brands in their portfolio.

Barua tells Social Samosa, that the RoI for Havas Group will be calculated basis the scale and added capabilities for clients that Langoor brings.

"Havas is extremely strong in media, strategy and creative while Langoor is strong in digital, data and technology. The opportunities for brands to leverage us for the right solution with a multi-disciplinary approach to problem-solving — is a true value-add," says Ganganna.

Functionally not much will change other than alignment to larger purpose and goals. On P&L level it would be business as usual.

Quick fix: How to prepare for an acquisition

Rana Barua, Havas Group India: Identify the relevant expertise that would further strengthen your offering and is definitely required to complete an ecosystem. For acquisition — Look at the right company size, nature of work, varied clients, culture, people. It must complement and add value which then makes it a stronger force.

Venugopal Ganganna, Langoor Havas : Always challenge the status quo. As you focus on growth, remember that running a profitable organization is key. Retain customers instead of only focusing on bringing in new customers. While focusing on core business, look at opportunities to smartly invest in adjacent non-linear businesses.