Mumbai: Leading advertising agencies R K Swamy and BBDO have ended their 37-year partnership with each other. The announcement was made through an internal memo.

As per the agreement, R K Swamy will buy out BBDO’s stake in R K Swamy BBDO, and BBDO will buy out R K Swamy’s stake in BBDO India.

The partnership, which started merely after a handshake between RK Swamy and the then global CEO of BBDO Allen Rosenshine in 1985, has ended for strategic reasons.

According to an official statement, R K Swamy Hansa Group is planning to bring its various businesses under one umbrella. The group presently has over one thousand employees working on four different ventures and the split plans to bring them all under one roof.

R K Swamy Hansa Group group CEO Shekar Swamy said, “We started the relationship when R K Swamy and I shook hands with the then CEO of BBDO Allen Rosenshine, in New York in 1985. We worked for four years together on a simple understanding without a formal contract. BBDO invested in us up to a majority, which we then bought back in 2009. They have held a significant minority since then. At that point, BBDO India was created and we took a similar minority stake in it. BBDO is a great company and it has been a fantastic journey. The phrase ‘all good things come to an end’ is so true in this case." 

Adding to it, BBDO Worldwide CEO Andrew Robertson said, "R K Swamy has been a great partner. We extend to them our very best wishes and cheers as they move forward with plans for their Group. I have always admired their conviction in, and commitment to the future of India and the part they can play in it. I am sure it will be great. We have a strong agency in BBDO India. We remain committed to great work, and this will be the same in India as elsewhere.”    

R K Swamy Hansa Group chairperson Srinivasan K Swamy remarked, “R K Swamy BBDO is primarily in marketing communications. However our extended activities go beyond marketing communications to span interactive and digital, media planning and buying, media and market research, CRM, data analytics and martech, healthcare communication, and continuing medical education, events, and outdoor. We are bringing these together under one structure for greater synergy. The future is very exciting as we consolidate."