The WPP-Scangroup has this morning sent out a letter announcing the suspension of the advertising group’s long-serving CEO Bharat Thakrar as well as the the CFO Satyabrata Das over alleged gross misconduct. The suspension is meant to allow for investigations into the issues which also include possible offences in the duo’s capacity as senior executives and employees of WPP-Scangroup.
The letter read: “WPP-Scangroup Plc announces that the board of directors has suspended the employment of the Chief Executive Officer, Mr Bharat Thakrar and the Chief Finance Officer, Mr Satyabrata Das to allow for an investigation into allegations of gross misconduct and possible offences in their capacity as senior executives and employees of the company,” the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm said in a statement.
“Further announcements concerning this matter will be made when appropriate. For the time being, therefore, shareholders and investors are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the company’s securities.”
In the interim period, the board has appointed Alec Graham, the group’s COO, to take charge of operations and assume overall management with support of the board and other members of the senior management team.
Below is the letter announcing the suspension of the CEO and CFO:
Bharat, who has for long been recognised as the face and voice of Scangroup-which he took public on August 29, 2006 in an initial public offering (IPO) that raised Sh94 million, and he is the founding shareholder of the WPP-Scangroup and a director of all WPP -Scangroup subsidiaries which include Ogilvy, JWT Scanad, Squad, GoupM Africa, MediaCom, Mindshare, Wavemaker, H+K Strategies, and Geometry.
He has working experience in advertising and communications spanning over 30 years. He is a former chairman of the Advertising Practitioners Association (APA) and is a member of the Advertising Standards Board.
He was the top shareholder at the time with a 28.53 percent stake and his holdings was at one time valued at more than Sh1 billion. His ownership now has a market-to-market value of about Sh250 million. He sold his shares over the years, contributing to his ownership dropping to the current 10.6 percent.
UK-based conglomerate WPP on the other hand raised its stake in the company to a controlling 56.3 percent through a mix of share purchases and folding some of its subsidiaries into Scangroup.
On his part, Satyabrata Das, who has been with the group for over 10 years, is a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya and The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, UK. He started his career as a sponsored candidate to Siemens “IGTC – Dual Education” program in 1997 in Mumbai, India. After working for 8 years in the Commercial function in the manufacturing sector, he moved into Advertising and Media with Publicis Groupe Media as Finance Controller for India in 2005 prior to joining WPP Scangroup in 2009.