MUMBAI: MATES – Madison World’s entertainment unit – has signed a Rs 1 billion (Rs 100 crore) deal with actor John Abraham for exclusive management of his endorsements, appearances, events, licensing, television tie ups and marketing representation for three years.

This is one of the highest valued deal any Bollywood celebrity has entered into with an agency for his / her representation.

Madison World chairman Sam Balsara said, "I am a great believer in exploiting the power of Bollywood in building brands. Given the buoyant economy and John’s brand image and personality many Brands can benefit from an association with him. John is uniquely placed in the Film world and has done a good job of shaping his career until now. He has come a long way from the time when he was a Media Planner..! I am sure MATES will be able to take him to the next level."

Before his tie up with MATES, Abraham has not had any company represent him for a long time and was handling his work himself. To this change of now bringing in an agency such as MATES to handle his work Abraham says, "I have great regard for Madison as a group and how it has consolidated its position slowly and steadily to become a dominant player which matches with my mindset. Also I was looking for a representation which had the potential to think long term rather than just brokering a few deals for me. I always wanted my work to be handled by a company which represents me in the true sense i.e. with complete clarity and transparency along with a vision."

MATES CEO Darshana Bhalla added, "Talent management and brand associations is a huge field and a lot remains to be achieved. We in India have not touched the tip of the iceberg, compared to Hollywood. We need to go beyond mere endorsements to handling and steering their entire careers. With John we are hoping to achieve this. John not only is a wonderful person to work with but also shares the same sense of vision that we do when it comes to talent management and we are extremely happy to have him on board."