Mumbai: dentsu India has denied reports that it has acquired Bengaluru-based performance creative agency Scroll Stop, stating that the announcement circulating on social media was incorrect.
In a clarification issued to MediaNews4U, dentsu India’s corporate communications team in Mumbai said the acquisition reports were inaccurate. The company further informed MediaNews4U that the LinkedIn post by Scroll Stop co-founder Vidhu Ravinath, which had announced that the agency had become “dentsu Scroll Stop”, had been deleted.
While verifying the development, MediaNews4U found that the LinkedIn post was no longer available on Ravinath’s profile. However, at the time of verification, his LinkedIn profile continued to display a banner image featuring the dentsu logo alongside the Scroll Stop logo.
When MediaNews4U sought clarification from dentsu India regarding the continued presence of the dentsu branding on Ravinath’s LinkedIn profile, the company’s corporate communications team subsequently shared an updated screenshot showing that the banner image had been changed and the dentsu logo had been removed.
The clarification comes after Ravinath had earlier shared a LinkedIn post claiming that Scroll Stop had become part of the dentsu network, prompting reports that the global advertising and marketing group had acquired the performance creative agency.
The now-deleted post had stated that “Scroll Stop is now dentsu Scroll Stop” and described the agency’s seven-year journey from its founding to becoming part of the global network. The announcement was widely interpreted as confirmation of an acquisition.
However, dentsu India has now categorically denied that such a transaction has taken place.
At the time the original announcement surfaced, the reported deal appeared strategically significant as it would have added a specialist performance creative capability to dentsu’s existing media, creative, data and technology operations. Scroll Stop has built its business around producing direct-response video advertising and performance-led creative for D2C and ecommerce brands.
Following dentsu India’s clarification, there is currently no official confirmation of any acquisition involving Scroll Stop. MediaNews4U has updated its earlier report to reflect dentsu India’s position and will continue to track any further developments or official statements from either organisation.
