Formerly managing director of Modem in the UK, De Kare-Silver left the agency under something of a cloud after news broke that he was to take over as European chief of the merged agency once the deal with Digitas was completed. In fact, he left the business the next day and the role was handed to Modem UK founder Norm Johnston.
De Kare-Silver said of his new appointment: "I am joining AKQA at an exciting time. An independent agency, with a reputation for innovation, the company is established as the market leader.
"It has excellent relationships with clients combined with a successful track record and an outstanding team. I am looking forward to joining that team and helping our clients to achieve additional success."
Of his departure from Modem, de Kare Silver said he had been offered the top job of the merged business but "had decided to move on instead".
"I just decided to leave, to take some time off and to pursue other interests and I was approached by AKQA and was delighted to be invited to take the job," he said.
AKQA co-founder Ajaz Ahamed, who said de Kare-Silver's was a new role at the company, commented: "Michael's appointment highlights the importance that digital is increasingly playing in our clients' business at board-level. Consumer uptake for broadband, mobile and digital TV platforms has been exceptional and will continue to grow."
However, AKQA also said it had identified 17 roles that could be axed at the company, though no redundancies have yet been made. It added that AKQA had retained all its clients last year and won 12 new pieces of business.
De Kare-Silver officially starts his new role on December 20.
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