GroupM has taken its world tour of leadership changes to India, announcing that it would be launching 'NewCo', an interim name for the combined MEC and Maxus agency, into the market, as well as changes at Essence.

Kartik Sharma, former managing director of Maxus South Asia, will assume the role of managing director of the new media, content and technology agency in India and South Asia when 'NewCo' launches in January 2018.

Tim Castree, global CEO at MEC said: “We’re creating a brand new billion-dollar revenue media, content and technology agency, dubbed ‘NewCo’ for now. With such ambition, comes a need for brilliant talent to lead and inspire, and so today’s news is very exciting for us. Under Kartik's leadership, I am confident that we will have the right team in place to truly make NewCo a formidable future-facing agency in India and South Asia.”

T. Gangadhar, the current managing director of MEC South Asia, will assume the new role of chairman of India and managing director of North Asia at Essence.

Whereas, Anand Chakravarthy, who served as managing partner at Maxus India since 2015, will take the role of managing director of Essence India. Chakravarthy will report to both Gangadhar and Kyoko Matsushita, CEO of Essence APAC.

Christian Juhl global CEO, Essence commented: “India is such an important market for so many of our clients whose business challenges we work tirelessly to solve. Essence has built its credibility on being a data-centric agency that infuses technology and measurement across all media."

"We’re excited to expand our geographic footprint and apply our unique approach for our global clients looking for relevance in India. Gangadhar and Anand are experienced leaders who will help expand our presence.”

The appointments follows the recent news that GroupM would remove the APAC management structure for the ‘NewCo’ agency. The plan to merge the two media agencieswas announced in June as part of a plan to expand digital agency Essence.