In an interview in French newspaper Le Figaro, Levy said that a bid for Grey Global, the world's seventh-largest advertising group, made no sense after its 拢2.1bn merger with Bcom3 in September 2002 to create the fourth-largest ad network.
"It is not necessarily in the interest of Publicis to make an offer on the whole of Grey Group. Such a purchase can not go ahead just in order to gain one place in the world ranking," Levy said.
Levy denied that the lack of interest from Publicis had anything to do with a cash shortage. He said that Publicis had enough financial muscle to make such an acquisition.
"Through payment in shares or by bringing in a fund if a cash payment was needed. The decision is purely strategic," he said.
The lack of interest from Publicis could be connected to Publicis and Grey's shared client Procter & Gamble, which is a major source of revenue for the two agencies.
P&G is reported to have made clear to Grey and Publicis that it would be opposed to see so much of its advertising being with one firm, which would be the outcome if Grey was acquired by the French firm.
Without the blessing of a major client, such as P&G, any merger of Grey with a rival is widely seen as doomed.
However, two weeks ago it P&G indicated that WPP's close ties with rival Unilever would not be a problem if the UK-based ad group launched a bid for Grey.
WPP is looking over Grey's books, following the New York-based firm calling in investment banks JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs to explore its strategic options.
Talk of the sale has led to speculation that 77-year-old chairman, Ed Meyer, will retire, although he has consistently denied that he has plans to stand down.
With Publicis now out of the picture and Omnicom Group also saying it will not bid, it leaves only WPP in the running, other than any surprise bid from Japan.
The Japanese advertising groups have all shied away from major international acquisitions, but, of those groups, Dentsu would be the likeliest to make an offer. So far, it has made no indication of doing so.
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