Update 2: Dentsu has informed (pdf) that as per the terms of the agreement, Webchutney will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Dentsu India by 2017. Dentsu also informed that Webchutney has registered a gross profit of 17.12 crore for the financial year ending March 2013. Update (May 23): Webchutney CEO Sidharth Rao has said in a blogpost that Dentsu has acquired 80% stake in Webchutney but the company will continue to operate independently in India. Earlier (May 23): Network18's venture capital arm Capital18 has inked (pdf) an agreement with Dentsu India group to offload its entire stake in the digital advertising agency and consulting firm Webchutney for an undisclosed amount. While the financial terms of this agreement were not disclosed, Network18 informed that this divestment was in line with its strategy of monetizing its investments and claimed the investment has generated a return of over 300% to the company. Network18 held 70.06% stake in the company, through its investment arms Capital18 Limited Mauritius which held 49.42% stake and Capital18 Fincap Private Limited which held 20.64% stake. We’ve been hearing about this development for a while and a report from December 2012 had suggested that Dentsu was in advanced talks to acquired Webchutney and had pegged the deal size to be between Rs 40 crore and Rs 60 crore. Capital18 had neither confirmed or denied this development to Medianama then. For the fiscal 2012, Webchutney had registered a profit of Rs 6.35 crore on total revenue of Rs 21.55 crore. This is Dentsu’s first acquisition in digital, although it had acquired a 51% stake in Mumbai-based Indian advertising agency, Taproot India, earlier this…
