Omnicom & Publicis' 'merger of equals' deal falls through
Publicis Groupe and Omnicom Group have called off the $35 billion merger deal a little over nine months after announcing plans to team up
Publicis Groupe and Omnicom Group have called off the $35 billion merger deal a little over nine months after announcing plans to team up in what was termed as “merger of equals”.
Publicis Groupe and Omnicom have said that the decision to call off the deal was mutual, following “difficulties in completing the transaction within a reasonable timeframe”. Both the parties have released each other from all obligations with respect to the proposed transaction, and no termination fees will be payable by either party.
The split has been unanimously approved by the management board and the supervisory board of Publicis Groupe and the board of directors at Omnicom.
It may be recalled that at the exchange4media Conclave in September last year, Sir Martin Sorrell, who was the keynote speaker, had observed that the merger of Publicis and Omnicom was a merger of ‘unequals’. According to him, such mergers don’t work in the long-term.
Elaborating further, he had added that an organisational structure, where there is a co-chairman or rotating chairman, won’t last.
