Advertising powerhouses Publicis Groupe and Omnicom
announced a merger Sunday creating the world's largest ad agency. The newly
combined agency, Publicis Omnicom Group, would have a market value of $35.1
billion and 130,000 employees worldwide.
Publicis, based in Paris, and Omnicom (OMC), based in New York, together brought in
revenue totaling $22.7 billion last year. The current CEOs from both firms will
serve as co-CEOs for the next two and a half years. At that point, Maurice Levy
of Publicis will serve as the non-executive chairman and John Wren of Omnicom
will serve as the CEO.
Publicis Groupe shareholders will receive one
share of the new entity for every share currently held and will receive a special
dividend of €1.00 per share. Omnicom shareholders will receive 0.813 shares of
the new entity and a special dividend of $2 per share.
The transaction is subject to approval by regulatory
agencies as well as shareholders of both companies. The transaction is expected
to close in fourth quarter of 2013 or the first quarter of 2014.
The new agency is expected
to be listed on the NYSE and Euronext Paris under the ticker OMC and will be
traded on the S&P 500 and the CAC 40.