Mumbai, 14th February 2022: Pressman Advertising Ltd (Pressman) along with its Promoters have signed a definitive Memorandum of Understanding with Signpost India Pvt Ltd (Signpost) and its Promoters to join hands and pool their resources to create a larger entity which will be mutually beneficial to all the stakeholders.
Signpost and Pressman propose to merge the two companies to create a larger and stronger entity, subject to statutory, regulatory and other approvals including relevant third-party consents. This will help pool in the experience, expertise, resources and client base of the two companies; offer a larger bouquet of services in the areas of advertising and promotion with focus on digital media and emerging technologies. The proposed merger shall result in streamlining of operations and cost efficiency and together with the combined clientele of both the companies, should result in accelerated business growth.
The Company has constituted a Committee of Directors to facilitate the process of merger including appointment of registered valuers, merchant bankers, legal consultants and other intermediaries.
Signpost is an independent ISO certified Digital Out of Home Enterprise (DOOH). It has wide experience in implementing large scale public oriented projects including street furniture, transit, public bicycle sharing and internet traffic monitoring system with over 32 Government authorities across the country. It serves more than 100 corporates, PSUs, Tourism and MSME brands through its own network of 11 offices. It has earned recognition in national and international forums with 57 gold, 43 silver and 28 bronze awards like ABBYS, EMVIES, KYOORIUS, Dragon of Asia, etc.
Signpost has blazed new trails in Out of Home (OOH) advertising and specializes in OOH media and digital innovations. It has leveraged digital technologies to initiate a trend of innovation in the OOH industry. It has a string of successful pioneering projects that include large format digital billboards at Mumbai International Airport and traffic measurement system for digital media formats at Mumbai International Airport and a digital analytics project for coverage of traffic in the entire city of Bengaluru.
Signpost’s subsidiary EFlag Analytics Pvt. Ltd. has developed a computer vision-based Artificial Intelligence-Machine Learning (AI-ML) platform to measure each exposure of traffic through image analysis, which has been validated by IISC Sustainable Transportation Lab of Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. It has implemented digital analytics for Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Pallika (BBMP) and Bengaluru Police for Government of Karnataka with coverage of the entire city of Bengaluru.
Signpost has a strategic investment in MojoBoxx, a smart device based wireless solution that enables the delivery of in-flight services including multimedia content and engagement services. MojoBoxx comes empowered with Artificial Intelligence-Machine Learning algorithms and is the future of travel entertainment and travel commerce on the go. It is the only Indian company to be approved by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), USA; Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), USA and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India. MojoBoxx is currently live across 102 Spicejet aircrafts, 1400 rail coaches serving several million passengers annually.
Signpost is building on further initiatives like Livebytes (a vehicle that reaches out to rural areas and offers real time interactivity) and Hinterland H2H, a learning and skill development programme run through secured portable high speed wireless media in the remotest villages in the country.
In FY20, Signpost reported a Revenue of Rs 425.40 crore and PAT of Rs 17.63 crore, while on account of severe impact of Covid in FY21, its Revenue declined to Rs. 185.54 crore and PAT to Rs 5.20 crore.
Pressman is one of India’s leading independent advertising agencies engaged largely in print advertising, public relations and digital advertising. The media spends are now rapidly shifting from traditional advertising to new platforms in digital space and therefore the combined entity with its innovative offerings shall be well placed to grow at a rapid pace. Pressman is a debt free company with cash reserves of around Rs 40 crore. It has consistently paid high dividends to the shareholders since FY 2012-13.
According to Dr. Niren Suchanti, Chairman & Managing Director, Pressman Advertising, “it has always been our endeavour to work in the interest of our shareholders and this alliance will enable rapid growth with a larger offering and the combined strength of the two entities and significantly enhance shareholders’ value.”
Mr. Shripad Ashtekar, CEO and Co-founder of Signpost said, “we are very excited about working with Pressman, a company with an impeccable track record. We have been a pioneer in Digital Out of Home advertising as well as in several areas of emerging technologies and are confident that our coming together will result in accelerated growth of business for the benefit of all stakeholders.”
