Gruner + Jahr, a Bertelsmann company headquartered in Hamburg, Germany has acquired a majority stake in digital advertising network NetworkPlay. Following the acquisition, Kuldip Singh, CEO, Gruner + Jahr India will join the board and will also be the CFO of NetworkPlay. The NetworkPlay team will now become a part of Gruner + Jahr.

Gruner + Jahr is one of the world’s leading media groups and its Electronic Media Sales (EMS) division is a leader in the digital advertising space in Europe. G+J recently acquired the majority of MaXposure Media and this is their second strategic investment in India. Bertelsmann AG holds 74.9 per cent stake and the Jahr family owns 25.1 per cent shares in G+J.

NetworkPlay was incubated in 2008 by digital advertising agency Webchutney and was funded by Capital18, the venture capital arm of the Network18 Group. Over the last 3.5 years, the company has grown to reach an execution capability of over 4 billion impressions per month across 500 publishers and 350 advertisers.

NetworkPlay has also brought global event franchises such as ad:tech and iMedia Summits to India, in partnership with Dmg::Events, an international events company that manages over 80 events in over 25 countries.

Sidharth Rao, Co-Founder and CEO of Webchutney, said, “Ram and his team have built an amazing business from an idea a few years ago. We are very proud and delighted to have believed in Networkplay’s vision from the first day. A partnership with a leading global company, Gruner + Jahr, will propel Networkplay on a stronger, higher growth path.”

Sarbvir Singh, Managing Director of Capital18, said, “This transaction is an important milestone for Capital18 as we continue our journey of working with extraordinary entrepreneurs in the media and entertainment space.”

Rammohan Sundaram, Co-Founder and CEO of Networkplay, said, “This is an exciting phase in our journey and we are delighted to partner with a global company that shares our ambition and vision. We believe this partnership is a testimony to our unique proposition, strong execution capabilities and the extraordinary team we have built over the last few years. This is a positive outcome for all our stakeholders, especially our customers as we now aim to enhance our innovative and execution capabilities in line with the world class standards and experience that Gruner + Jahr brings to this partnership.”

Torsten-Jörn Klein, Executive Board Member and President of Gruner + Jahr International, said, “The expansion of our activities in India is clearly in line with the strategic priorities of Gruner + Jahr. After the acquisition of MaXposure in the print space, G+J is now acquiring Networkplay, one of the fastest growing digital companies in India and follows its strategy to build a combined portfolio of print and digital media activities.”

Kuldip Singh said, “Networkplay was one of the several companies we were looking at when we decided to build our digital business in India. We zeroed in on NP simply because of the brilliant team along with the strategic vision that Ram had for the company thus far, also they have shown very attractive growth in revenues in such a short time of their existence.”