Avyan Holdings acquires key stake in Castle By the River

Singapore-based Avyan Holdings has acquired a key stake in Philippine design and innovation agency Castle By the River (CBR), the company announced Tuesday.

According to Avyan Holdings’ chairman Vishnu Mohan, former Havas Group chairman and chief executive officer,  the investment in CBR is in line with efforts to make the Philippines a new hub for regional expansion efforts.

“Our investment in CBR Philippines sits perfectly well with our operating principle of global serviceability,” he said in an emailed statement.

“We have seen very few regional hubs away from Singapore, and I believe that the skill sets and cost advantages make the Philippines a very fertile ground for investment. We aim to make the operation as a hub for our near expansion plans in the rest of the region,” he added.

CBR started operations as an affiliate of Entropia Malaysia, which was recently acquired by Accenture Interactive. Its clients include the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), GMA Network Inc., Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. (PMFTC), AIA/PhilamLife, and Mundipharma (Betadine).

“CBR’s use of design, technology, and anticipatory intelligence via a robust build of data ecosystem is fascinating and I am confident in its potential to be an asset to Avyan Holdings,” Mohan said.

For his part, CBR Founder Ed Mapa welcomed the investment, noting previous collaborations with the Havas Group under Mohan’s leadership.

“We at CBR are excited about Avyan Holdings’ vision and the commitment. There’s a meeting of hearts and minds. A new story begins,” he said in the same statement.

The company did not elaborate on the amount of the investment, and the equivalent stake in CBR.—LDF, GMA News