by Herman Manson (@marklives) Publicis Groupe and Omnicom have announced that they have terminated their proposed merger by mutual agreement, “in view of difficulties 
in completing the transaction within a reasonable timeframe”.
Both parties have been released from all obligations with respect to the proposed
transaction, and no termination fees will be payable by either party.
AdAge reports that Omnicom alone has spent more than $48 million of pre-tax expenses on merger preparations so far.
“The challenges that still remained to be overcome, in addition to the slow pace of progress, created a level of uncertainty detrimental to the inte rests of both groups and their employees, clients and shareholders,” the two groups said in a joint statemet. “We have thus jointly decided to proceed along our independent paths. We, of course, remain competitors, but maintain a great respect for one another.”
Omnicom owns three global advertising agency networks in BBDO, DDB and TBWA as well as media services firms OMD and PHD. The group reported worldwide revenue of $14.2 billion in 2012. Publicis owns the Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi and Publicis networks and media agencies ZenithOptimedia and Starcom Mediavest.
Further reading:
AdAge: Publicis and Omnicom Call Off Mega-Merger
Deal to Create World’s Largest Agency Company Crashes and Burns “Omnicom shares fell $1.80, or 2.7%, to $64.40 in after-hours trading this evening after word leaked out that the deal was dead, pushing the stock below the price where it traded before the merger was announced last July ($65.11).
Shares of rivals WPP and Interpublic Group of Cos. have climbed 8.7% and 10.0%, respectively, since Publicis and Omnicom announced their proposed merger last July.”
The Guardian: Omnicom-Publicis merger collapses
Raft of disagreements between two sides leads to failure of efforts to create world’s biggest advertising group. “Now, with the merger off, the companies have surrendered their potentially dominant position to current leader WPP. “
“Brian Wieser, a senior analyst at Pivotal Research, said consolidation in the industry was still on the table and other deals could happen with agencies such as Interpublic Group or Havas.”
NYTime: At Odds, Omnicom and Publicis End Merger
“A mix of clashing personalities, disagreements about how the companies would be integrated and complications over legal and tax issues derailed the deal nine months after it was announced.”
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