DAN launches Merkle in APAC with Sokrati takeover

Dentsu Aegis Network today announced an agreement to acquire Indian performance marketing agency Sokrati.

Following the takeover, the agency will be rebranded Merkle | Sokrati, under DAN’s performance marketing agency, thus establishing Merkle’s first presence in Asia-Pacific. The deal is expected to close this week.

Headquartered in Pune, Sokrati was founded in 2009. It focuses on digital and performance marketing, specialising in e-commerce, CRM, social, retargeting and video production, among other things. The agency has particular experience in the automotive, telecoms and financial services sectors.

“Sokrati’s strength in mobile, e-commerce, data, analytics and performance media provides an ideal basis from which to launch Merkle in India as we develop the roll-out plan for Asia-Pacific,” said Nick Waters, CEO of DAN APAC.

Sokrati's co-founders—CEO Ashish Mehta, enterprise business head Anubhav Sonthalia, and head of innovations Santosh Kumar Gannavarapu—will join DAN’s leadership team in India. Sonthalia will be CEO of Merkle | Sokrati, reporting to Vivek Bhargava, CEO of performance, DAN India, and Zhengda Shen, President of Merkle APAC.

Said Sonthalia, “We could not be more pleased to be joining forces with world-leading agency Merkle, as we expand our global footprint as part of Dentsu Aegis Network.”

Ashish Bhasin, chairman and CEO of DAN South Asia, added: “Sokrati has strong ability in CRM and data to accelerate the launch of Merkle in India and further bolster our data practice, which is becoming increasingly critical in all aspects of our business."