Dive summary:
- An international merger between mega ad firms US-based Omnicom Group and France-based Publicis Groupe will create the world's largest family of ad agencies; the total stock market value of the combined firms is estimated at $35.1 billion.
- The CEOs of each agency plan to share CEO responsibilities at the new merged company, but after 30 months John D. Wren of Omnicom will take over full CEO responsibilities and Maurice Lévy of Publicis will become nonexecutive chairman.
- Mr. Levy revealed in a statement the reason for the merger was technological advancements in advertising and the rise of Big Data.
From the article:
"The merger would bring under one roof separate networks of ad agencies — including BBDO, TBWA and DDB under Omnicom, and Leo Burnett and Saatchi & Saatchi under Publicis. Collectively, the conglomerates represent some of the world’s largest brands, including AT&T, Visa and Pepsi at Omnicom and McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Walmart at Publicis."
