Ybrant digital’s 2012

An incredible year for a global leader of digital marketing industry, Ybrant Digital. Most of the year’s good news were from Facebook and our growth in this companionship throughout the year. If we see the developments of a previous year, list follows this way:

To start with, Ybrant Digital became their key company by offering privileged advertising features for FB campaigns. Sooner, ybrant  set the trend in the social sphere by becoming part of the Preferred Marketing Program Developer on Facebook, having obtained the relevant certificate under the Advertising API. Ybrant planned to buy an US firm for $175mn and however the deal falls though. Ybrant Digital then acquired some minor stake in Israel based web 3.0 in June. Then the long awaited merger with Hyderabad IT firm LGS Global completed by listing Ybrant digital in BSE. Then they planned & raised $100mn through PE to fund one of its proposed acquisitions from PE firms like GE Asia Pacific Capital, Oak Investments, Venus Capital and many more. Throughout the year Ybrant, as a leading digital marketing firm have seen many gains and some downsides also. As a whole 2012 helped Ybrant Digital gain more growth in both revenues, sales and market base.

 

M&A’s (Mergers&Acquisition) in Indian Digital Marketing Firms

In this competitive market gaining an edge over the peers is a challenging task and rather most important task too. It can assist an organization or a company to not just stand out of the competition but even expands our market. Increasing competition in the advertising agency and digital marketing businesses, the continued growth of social media and the need for analytic s to make it all work ensured that not a moment was to be spared.The last six months have been rife with mergers and acquisitions, given that digital and online media have dramatically increased the ways consumers interact and engage with brands. And with the search market still expecting double-digit growth in the coming years, mergers are set to create a much larger canvas to develop as well as access global tools and knowledge.In the global $70-billion digital marketing industry, with the US alone accounting for over 50 per cent, Indian agencies are being gobbled up.Some of them are as follows.

Ybrant Digital which got listed on the BSE through a reverse merger with LGS Global in a $550-million deal. With seven other acquisitions in its kitty, including assets of US-based search engine Lycos in August 2010 for $36 million, this sort of growth seen as major fortune for Ybrant Digital.Aegis Group plc acquired Communicate 2 in India; French multinational Publicis Groupe acquired Mumbai-based digital marketing start-up Resultrix Media; Komli Media acquired Singapore-based Admax Network Pte; Gruner+Jahr, the publishing division of European media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG, picked up a majority stake in digital ad network Networkplay; Ad2c acquired Gurgaon-based Mobimasta, a mobile marketing agency, and ad network Tyroo Media teamed up with Anurag Gupta for a management buyout of the affiliate ad network DGM India.

With a rumoured $400 billion in cash to put in the marketplace, mergers and acquisition are only set to grow, as growth in the digital, social and mobile space shows no signs of slowing down.

 

Ybrant to be listed in BSE

Hyderabad-based digital marketing firm Ybrant announced that it is going to get listed on the BSE following itsmerger with LGS Global. The company said the face value of the share has been changed from Rs 10 to Rs 2 for accounting purposes and does affect shareholding of the investors.  Ybrant Digital had announced its merger with IT services firm LGS Global Ltd to create a global digital marketing powerhouse. The share exchange ratio for the merger was 6 equity shares of LGS of Rs 10 each, for every 1 equity share of Ybrant of Rs 10 each.  The merger is subject to regulatory approvals from Indian stock exchanges and the High Court of Andhra Pradesh.

The name of the amalgamated entity has now been changed from LGS Global Ltd to Ybrant Digital Ltd.

Ybrant Digital Ltd is all set to get listed on the BSE consequent to reorganisation of capital and fresh allotment of shares in the amalgamation. The board took cognisance of the amalgamation of Ybrant Digital and LGS Global as directed by the honourable high court of Andhra Pradesh. Trading of the stock ‘LGS Global‘ has been temporarily suspended due to the procedural reasons to accommodate the changes, The new Board of Directors of the company include Suresh Kumar Reddy M (Chairman and Managing Director) and Ramakrishna Vijay Kumar K (Executive Director). Ybrant Digital services global brands like Porsche, Ford, Swissair, Chevrolet, LaSalle and Lufthansa. Ybrant has, in the past, acquired US-based search engine and web portal company Lycos ($36 million) and three firms belonging to UK-based company Experian for $175 million. It has raised some $100 million in equity and debt from private equity funds, including Oak Investment Partners and GE Asia Pacific Capital and now Ybranthas purely become a global brand.