Percept restructures entertainment division, appoints Devraj Sanyal as CEO

Percept Limited, which has three divisions -- entertainment, media and communication, has restructured its entertainment division.

Speaking about the need for restructuring, Shailendra Singh, joint managing director, Percept Limited says in a press statement, "The restructuring in our entertainment business is in keeping with the evolving and dynamic changes in the M&E Industry and would enable Percept to offer greater efficiencies in the way it operates and functions. The new structure would also offer our stakeholders a wider range of properties and service offerings in the entertainment domain, thereby translating into a more heightened level of synergy, customer service and value to all our stakeholders."

The new services vertical will be called Percept Sports and Entertainment and will comprise the following businesses: experiential and entertainment marketing, sports management and marketing, event management and marketing, celebrity endorsements and talent management, branded content, brand activation and promotions. Devraj Sanyal has been appointed as the chief executive officer for the division.

Rukin Kizilbash, who was earlier the COO of PDM, will now be the chief operating officer of Percept Sports and Entertainment, and will focus on the domains of sports marketing and management, brand activation, entertainment, incentives, conferences, exhibitions and events.

Rajneesh Sahay, who joined Percept Talent Management in July 2010 as CEO, will continue to look after the talent management business. Similarly, Tejaswini Aparanji, the COO of erstwhile P9 Integrated, will continue in her role. Both of them will report to Sanyal.

The content vertical will be called Percept Pictures. It will focus on films, television and ad films, which would encompass all elements of content production, aggregation, distribution and marketing. Percept Pictures (erstwhile Percept Picture Company) will continue to focus on movies, television software, ad films, corporate films, live events and special projects in the content space. Sanjay Ahire will continue in his role as COO and will report to Singh.

The assets vertical, called Percept IP, will include live entertainment and sports assets, digital and other media assets, celebtrack, sunburn, fight nights and all other assets created and owned by Percept. Harshad Bhagwat will lead the division and will report to Singh.

Sanyal, who joined Percept about three months ago, was earlier the global CEO of Desihits Inc, a multi-platform content creator based out of New York and India.

Before Desihits, in 2004, he was the COO of Percept Group's PDM division and was elevated to the post of CEO in 2007. During his tenure at PDM, he was instrumental in running the business verticals encompassing activation, sports marketing, events, fashion and wedding management. Prior to Percept, Sanyal worked with Times Infotainment Media, where he was responsible for the BTL business of the TOI group. He has also worked with Elle, Baccarose Cosmetics India and Euro RSCG India.