Management buyout at Candid: 66% shares change hands

International Marketing and Sales Group (IMSG) had acquired the stake in June 2006

The promoters of Candid Marketing – Atul Nath and Samarjit Singh along with the investors have bought back the 66 per cent shares held by International Marketing and Sales Group (IMSG) in the company. The stake was bought back through individual funds. IMSG had acquired the stake in June 2006.

In an official statement, IMSG declared that it has decided to disinvest in Candid India, so that it can focus energies, resources and funds to build on its business in the UK, Russia and CIS countries, where it is a dominant BTL marketing player.

Nath spoke to afaqs!, “I would not like to call it a disinvestment -- rather, a buyout, because it is us who made the offer to IMSG, when they weren't quite keen to sell off the share. However, we thought that the time has come to make Candid independent again and get the strategic control back.”

Three years back, it was IMSG which approached Candid Marketing with the offer of buying the 66 percent stake. At that time, according to Nath, the agency was valued at US $5.5 million. As for the current valuation, Nath refused to divulge the details, stating that it was confidential.

Nath says, “Back then, we had sold our stakes, because we wanted to align ourselves with an international group that focussed on below-the-line initiatives. We thought the international partner would provide knowledge and product expertise.”

About whether the international tie-up has fulfilled it objectives, Nath says, “Yes and No. Yes -- because in the first two years, we shared knowledge resources with IMSG, which is why we were able to launch our trade marketing division, Integrated Trade Marketing (ITM), a year and a half back. However, by saying ‘No’, I don't mean that we had any negative experience with IMSG; but that during the past few months, we felt there was nothing positive coming out of this relationship.”

Taking about the growth plans post demerger, Nath says that the plan is to launch many new marketing services to increase their share in the market.

Candid Marketing was launched on August 15, 1995 by Atul Nath and Samarjit Singh. Some of the companies and brands that Candid has worked with are HUL, Castrol, Nokia, Pepsi, Cadbury, Johnnie Walker, McDowells, Google, Lenovo, HP, Intel, Philips, ICICI Bank, STAR Plus, Mars Foods, Sony TV and ESPN Star Sports.