Publicis Groupe Acquires Neev, a Leading Software Service Provider in India

PARIS, April 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Publicis Groupe [EURONEXT Paris: FR0000130577] today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Neev, one of India's leading technology services providers specialising in eCommerce, SaaS (Software as a Service) and cloud applications across web, social and mobile. Neev will be aligned with Razorfish, one of the largest interactive marketing and technology companies in the world; the acquisition triggers the launch of the Razorfish brand in India. The move follows a number of acquisitions recently announced by Publicis Groupe and further strengthens its digital leadership globally as well as its presence in India and the greater APAC region.

Founded in 2005 and based in Bangalore, Neev has aggressively grown and now employs a team of 250 specialists, of which over 220 are technologists, with experience and expertise in leveraging cloud and mobile technologies and promoting innovation that drives business success. With a strong commitment to technology, innovation and scale, Neev has a track record for cutting edge product innovation and market firsts, in areas of video streaming, eCommerce, data visualization including patents in cloud and mobility. Working seamlessly with its clients' teams, Neev serves a growing list of prominent brands and technology companies mainly in India and the US. Year on year, Neev has increased revenues on average 45 percent since 2007.

"Razorfish can now offer scaled expertise in India, complementing its already strong presence in Greater China and Australia," says Vincent Digonnet, President APAC of Razorfish and Digitas networks. "At the core of Razorfish lies innovation and technology, and we can only launch the brand in a market with a very deep tech development capability. Neev is providing us with the right engine, including an ability to deliver sophisticated state of the art web, ecommerce, mobile and social solutions. In addition, the acquisition will support the development capabilitiesof Razorfish technology teams in the US."

Saurabh Chandra, Neev CEO, says: "Neev has always delivered its work by leveraging leading edge technologies in cloud and mobility. With Razorfish we are looking at taking this to a larger portfolio of clients. Our focus remains delivering solutions to our clients that solve real business problems with the best combination of creativity and technology."

Publicis Groupe's goal is to create the world's leading concentration of digital skills and competencies in the world and to that end is committed to doubling its size in India between 2010 and 2015. This year, the Groupe acquired the leading digital agency Convonix based in Mumbai and back in 2012 made significant acquisitions with iStrat (December 2012), Resultrix (August 2012) and Indigo Consulting (April 2012).

Srikant Sastri, VivaKi Country Chair for India who is overseeing the acquisition of Neev, adds: "With the acquisition of Neev, we have added cutting-edge tech capabilities. We are now twice as large as any other global network in terms of digital team-strength and revenues, and unparalleled in breadth and depth of digital skills."

The agency will operate as Razorfish Neev led by Neev CEO, Saurabh Chandra. He will report into Kanika Mathur, Managing Director for Razorfish and Digitas India, with a direct connection to Ray Velez, Global CTO for Razorfish.

About Publicis Groupe

Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, CAC 40] is one of the world's leading communications groups. We offer the full range of services and skills: digital (DigitasLBi, Razorfish, Rosetta, VivaKi), creative services (BBH, Leo Burnett, Publicis Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi), public affairs, corporate communications and events (MSLGROUP), media strategy, planning and buying (Starcom MediaVest Group and ZenithOptimedia) and healthcare communications, with Publicis Healthcare Communications Group (PHCG). Present in 108 countries, the Groupe employs 58,000 professionals.

http://www.publicisgroupe.com | Twitter: @PublicisGroupe | Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/publicisgroupe

Viva la Difference !

About Razorfish

Razorfish, ranked in Advertising Age's A-List top ten in 2012 and 2013, creates experiences that build businesses. As one of the largest interactive marketing and technology companies in the world, Razorfish helps its clients build better brands by delivering business results through customer experiences. Razorfish combines the best thought leadership of the consulting world with the leading capabilities of the marketing services industry to support our clients' business needs, such as launching new products, repositioning a brand or participating in the social world. Razorfish has 2800 digital professionals, with offices in the UK, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan and the United States. Clients include Audi, Delta, DHL, McDonald's, Nike, Samsung and Unilever. Razorfish is part of Publicis Groupe.

For further information http://www.razorfish.com | Twitter: @razorfish | Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/razorfish

About Neev

Neev is an Outsourced Product and Application Development Company that helps companies around the world architect, develop and deploy applications on the Cloud, accessible on Web and Mobile platforms. Neev's services offer cutting edge, cost-effective, flexible and dependable solutions. Neev leverages emerging technologies and works on robust, industry standard mostly open source platforms. Whether it is a high performance, always available customer facing product e.g. an online store, a sales force enabling mobile application or architecting a cloud setup to optimally support and grow with your business - Neev makes it happen. For further details  http://www.neevtech.com

Contacts

Publicis Groupe
Peggy Nahmany
Communication corporate
+33(0)1-44-43-72-83

Martine Hue
Investor Relations
+33(0)1-44-43-65-00

Stéphanie Atellian
Investor Relations
+33(0)1-44-43-74-44

Razorfish and Digitas
Maya Hart
International Communications Director
+44(0)7971-241-769

SOURCE Publicis Groupe