Omnicom, Publicis agree to merge, to form Publicis Omnicom Group

US-based Omnicom Group and France’s Publicis Groupe announced on 28 July what they bill as a ‘merger of equals’ to create Publicis Omnicom Group. The deal between the two global ad networks with a combined revenue of US $ 22.7 bn is expected to close by the end of 2013 or early 2014. This would make them the largest advertising network, rising above WPP’s $ 15.8 billion in revenue in 2012.

The new entity will be led by Omnicom CEO John Wren and Publicis Groupe chairman and CEO Maurice Lévy as co-CEOs during an integration period of 30 months, according to a joint statement announcing the deal. Lévy will become non-executive chairman thereafter, while Wren will continue as CEO, it added.

The merged group will have over 130,000 employees. While Omnicom has a presence in over 100 countries with 71,000 employees, Publicis’ 60,000-plus staffers are spread out in over 108 countries.

Lévy said, “John (Wren) and I have conceived this merger to benefit our clients by bringing together the most comprehensive offering of analog and digital services. Equally important, it will offer our talented people new avenues for growth and success at the crossroads of strategic intelligence, creativity, science and technology.”

Wren added, “This combination will enable us to leverage the skills of our exceptionally talented people, our broad product offering, enhanced global footprint, and tremendous roster of global and local clients. In short, we believe this is a merger that will set our new company on a path to accelerated growth, with long term benefits for clients, employees and shareholders.”

For the first year following the closing of the transaction, Bruce Crawford, currently chairman, Omnicom, will be the non-executive chairman of Publicis Omnicom Group. He will be succeeded by the current Publicis Groupe
chairperson, Elisabeth Badinter, as non-executive chairperson.

“The future scalability and internal synergies of the combined company are expected to generate efficiencies of $500 million,” the note added.

The new holding company, Publicis Omnicom Group, will be based in The Netherlands, while the operational head offices of Publicis and Omnicom will continue to be in Paris and New York respectively.