Media and digital marketing communications company Dentsu Aegis Network is set to acquire a 51 per cent stake in Sokrati, a data-driven performance marketing agency in India for an undisclosed fee.

With the acquisition, Dentsu Aegis is able to continue its rollout of Merkle, the Baltimore-headquartered performance marketing agency it acquired last year, to the Asia Pacific region. Sokrati will be rebranded as Merkle Sokrati.

The deal, which is expected to close this week, will see Sokrati’s co-founder – Ashish Mehta, Anubhav Sonthalia, and Santosh Kumar Gannnavarapu – join the Dentsu Aegis Network leadership team in India. Sonthalia will become CEO of Merkle Sokrati.

“With the backing of Merkle and the reach of Dentsu Aegis Network, we at Sokrati are super excited to expand our Indian offering with our technology, our collective experiences, and our expertise,” said Sokrati CEO Mehta in a blog post. “As we unfurl this new chapter for Sokrati we are all very thankful to every Sokratian, every client, all our investors, mentors, and advisors. Without your constant support, this remarkable achievement wouldn’t have been possible. We now proudly call ourselves Merkle Sokrati.”