Christian de La Villehuchet, global head – integration and investments, Havas, was in India last month, during which we caught up with him to understand whether it was a routine visit or one to announce an acquisition, given the murmurs in the industry.

Talking about the Indian operations,  de La Villehuchet, shared, "It’s a country of optimism at this moment and one that is changing every day. Havas is also changing every day. If one remembers, about eight years ago, we were three agencies with 500 people. We have completely changed and now have over 2,500 employees across more than 20 agencies. India is one of the most interesting countries for building the village as an integrated offering, providing solutions from wherever they come, which makes us very client-centric rather than agency-centric. It’s a country where we are looking at how we can grow faster than the competition, serve the client better than the competition, and do more brilliant work. For me, the country is a source of inspiration, and I’m here to interact with the key people of the agency."

de La Villehuchet stated that he was in India to see clients along with the Havas team. Since his trip coincided with the French president (Emmanuel Macron), he was at the French embassy in Delhi with Macron.

He was enthusiastic about the relationship between Europe and India. 

"This is a good moment where Europe and India have a closer partnership than ever (given the trade deals), and so we have to get used to being here more often," said de La Villehuchet.

Acquisitions

After acquiring Pivotroots and PR Pundit in 2023, the French holding company has been largely quiet in the Indian market.

Although there are conversations in the market about a potential acquisition, de La Villehuchet revealed that the group isn't looking to make headlines.

"We have made acquisitions in the past and continue to do so. But we are not looking to do so to make headlines in the press like some of our competitors. We look at specific skillsets to better serve our clients and increase our reputation. All our acquisitions fulfil the village promise; therefore, we look at them whenever there is a gap," he said.

On the gaps in the Indian market, he said, "We can capture the growing social media and digital business to enhance our capabilities. In a world where governments and regulations are important, we can also look at public affairs.No one can be certain about what will be big in the coming years. If one remembers, four years ago, everyone was talking about the Metaverse, but that has disappeared. Two years ago, the big talk was around AI.  The acquisition process is never-ending because we don’t know what the next big thing will be to better serve our clients and strengthen the village model.We need to grow profitably because we buy companies that are growing and profitable."

Rise of independent agencies

There's a trend of rising independent agencies emerging, and de La Villehuchet stated there are two types of them being formed.

"One type is agencies created to be sold, and those are dangerous because very often the purpose is to be sold and not to grow. So there is no real purpose of the agency, and we have to be careful of those agencies. The other agencies that don’t want to be sold can think of partnering with us because they will remain autonomous, and at the same time, they have the benefit of the Havas scale. One thing I’ve noticed globally is that independent agencies need to invest heavily in technology and AI. Sometimes, they feel more comfortable being connected and partnered with global organisations to do so," he said.

Read the full article in the March 2026 issue of Manifest, which can be purchased here.